aur

Forms

aur n (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin aurum (“gold”), the Latin word for the metal.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *auzom and to Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- (“glow”), a derivative of *h₂ews- (“to dawn, become light”).^[1][6] De Vaan compares Lithuanian áuksas (“gold”) and Old Prussian ausis.^[6]

Ciorănescu gives Istro-Romanian aur as the Istro-Romanian form.^[2][7] The word lives on across Romance: Italian oro, French or, Spanish oro, Portuguese ouro and Old Occitan aur, and Vegliote has Dalmatian jaur.^[2][5] Ciorănescu and the DA also compare Albanian ar (“gold”).^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of about 1500, where the word names the metal.^[9] The psalter index finds it there in Psalms 44, 67 and 113.^[10] Tiktin's first record is the Psaltirea Scheiană (Psalm 67:14).^[11] MDA2 dates it from the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583).^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the metal the word came to stand for money, wealth and the standard of value, and figuratively for anything precious.^[4][3] Thread of gold, or thread that imitates it, and the cloth woven from it are also called aur.^[4] Modern phrases name sources of wealth by colour: aur alb “white gold” for water as a source of power, aur negru “black gold” for coal or oil, aur verde “green gold” for forests.^[4] Tiktin records Ioan Gură de Aur “John Golden-Mouth” for John Chrysostom, and the exclamation Cruce de aur în casă! “a golden cross in the house!”, said to keep the Devil away when his name is spoken.^[11][3]

The derivative aurar “goldsmith; gold miner” is recorded in 1484, before the noun itself.^[9] Pușcariu and the DA take it straight from Latin aurārius;^[2][9] Ciorănescu thinks it more likely a Romanian derivative with the agent suffix -ar, and DELR gives both views.^[2][9] Pușcariu and the DA likewise derive the verb auri “to gild” from Latin aurire;^[2][9] DELR records its participle aurit in the same psalter of about 1500.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1484 – aurar “goldsmith; gold miner”, in a Slavonic–Romanian document.^[9]
• c. 1500 – aur and the participle aurit “gilded” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[9]
• 16th century – aur in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[11]
• 1649 – aur glosses Slavonic words for gold in Mardarie's lexicon.^[12]
• 1708 – auritură “gilding; gilded work”.^[9]
• 1837 – auriu “golden in colour”, in Anton Pann.^[9]
• 1848 – the neologism aurifer “gold-bearing”, in Negulici's dictionary.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. gold: the precious, bright yellow, very malleable and ductile metal, used for jewellery, works of art and coins.^[4][3][1]
2. (figurative) Something precious; a radiance like that of gold.^[4]
3. Gold thread, or thread imitating it, used in sewing; cloth or garments woven with it.^[4]
4. Money; wealth, riches;^[4] (figurative) abundance: a înota în aur “to be rolling in money”.^[4]

Word family

• aura
• aurar
• aurăreasă
• aurărie
• aurel
• auri
• aurifer
• aurit
• auritor
• auritură
• auriu
• auros
• dezauri

Related words

• Latin aurum

Usage notes

De aur “golden” also means “very good, kind” of a person, and epoca de aur is a golden age.^[4] Nunta de aur is a golden wedding, the fiftieth anniversary of a marriage.^[4] In the plural, rare today, aururi or old auri meant gold coins or gold objects.^[3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. aur
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 129
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 74
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 800
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Byhan, Arthur (1899), Istrorumänisches Glossar, Sechster Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig: 174–366, p. 190
8. ^ 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. aur
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. aur
10. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 67:14
11. ^ 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. aur
12. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. aur