armăsar

Forms

armăsar m (plural armăsari)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *armissārius (“stallion”), a form attested as armessārius in the Salic Law.^[2][3][4] This is admissārius (“stallion kept for breeding”), used with equus (“horse”), from admittō (“to let approach; to put the male to the female”), from ad- and mittō (“to send”).^[2][5][6][1] The DA explains ⟨ar-⟩ for ⟨ad-⟩ by a known change, and Ciorănescu cites Ernout on ⟨ad-⟩ becoming ⟨ar-⟩ before a labial.^[5][3]

It matches Sardinian ammesardzu.^[3][5] Albanian borrowed the form with ⟨rm⟩ as Albanian harmëshuar, today hamshor.^[2][1] The REW supposed that Romanian took a form with ⟨ș⟩ from Albanian, but Ciorănescu, after Graur, thinks this rests on an error.^[3] The variant ⟨armăcsar⟩ of Mehedinți may be a blend with armig, a synonym meaning “stallion”.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is armasariu in a document of 1588.^[2][7] A Slavonic–Romanian glossary of about 1600 has „armăsar sau stăvar”, two words that also meant a keeper of the stud.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word means an uncastrated horse kept for breeding, and Hasdeu notes that it is nearly always praised as handsome, proud or swift.^[8] Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică has a fine armăsariu among the mares.^[8] Proverbs set it against the donkey: „Tată avea armăsar, Dar el a ieșit măgar” “his father had a stallion, but he turned out a donkey”.^[8] A face din țânțar armăsar “to make a stallion out of a gnat” means to exaggerate.^[7][9]

The people often say it with an initial /h/, harmăsar, in Moldavia and Transylvania.^[8][2] From the horse the name passed to pieces of wood: a peg of the yoke, the regulator of a plough or a mill, and in Maramureș the bar that locks a gate.^[5][10] The word passed into Ukrainian as harmasar and Hungarian hermekszár is a loan from it.^[3][10]

Timeline

• 1588 – armasariu in a document, the first record.^[2][7]
• c. 1600 – armăsar in a Slavonic–Romanian glossary.^[8]
• 1824 – armăsărit “covering; stud fee”.^[2]
• 1840 – the diminutive armăsăruș.^[2]
• 1887 – armăsăraș and armăsărel “young stallion; peg of the yoke” in Hasdeu.^[2]
• 1903 – armăsăresc “of a stallion”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stallion: an uncastrated male horse; by extension, a proud and spirited horse.^[6][11][1]
2. (figurative, slang) A man noted for his virility; a stud.^[11][1]
3. (regional) A peg or bar: the peg of a yoke, the regulator of a plough or of millstones; in Maramureș, the wooden bar that locks a gate.^[5][10]

Word family

• armăsăraș
• armăsărel
• armăsăresc
• armăsărește
• armăsărit
• armăsăruș

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. armăsar
3. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. armăsar
4. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 17
5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. armăsar
6. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 62
7. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. armăsar
8. ^ a b c d e f Hasdeu, B. P. (1886–1898), Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae: dicționarul limbei istorice și poporane a românilor, 4 vols. (A–Bărbat), București: Socec, p. s.v. armăsar
9. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 43
10. ^ a b c Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. armăsar
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 100