aurar

Forms

aurar m (plural aurari, feminine equivalent aurăreasă or aurăriță)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian aur + -ar, with the agent suffix, as DEX, MDA2, the DLRM and Ciorănescu give it.^[2][3][4][5] Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the DA and Scriban took it straight from Latin aurārius (“of gold”).^[5][6][7][8] Pușcariu later noted that the regular outcome would have been ⟨arar⟩ and allowed the influence of the simple noun, which is also how Candrea and Densusianu explain the unstressed ⟨au⟩;^[5][7] Ciorănescu therefore prefers a Romanian derivative.^[5][7] DELR and Wiktionary give both views.^[9][1] The Latin adjective is from aurum (“gold”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a personal name of 1484, Stanciul aurariu.^[10][9] DELR glosses the word there as “jeweller; gold miner”.^[9] MDA2's first record is the Lexicon of Buda of 1825, where aurariu is a gold washer.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Its senses are the craftsman working gold and silver, the dealer in such objects and, among the Moți, the jeweller; for a goldsmith argintar was more usual, and earlier zlătar.^[6][3] The other line is the gold miner and above all the gold washer of the rivers.^[6][2] In the principalities this was a class of Gypsy rudari, who alone could pan gold in the rivers and paid the prince's wife a tax in gold each year.^[6][5]

Timeline

• 1484 – Stanciul aurariu, a personal name, the first record.^[10][9]
• 1825 – aurariu “gold washer” in the Lexicon of Buda.^[3][6]
• 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary defines it as a master who works gold and silver.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A goldsmith, a craftsman who makes objects of gold.^[2][1]
2. A person who extracts gold from mines or from river sand; a gold prospector.^[2][1]
3. (obsolete) A Gypsy rudar who panned gold in the rivers, worked it or sold it.^[3][6]

Word family

• aurăreasă
• aurărie

Related words

• aur

Usage notes

A separate, obsolete Transylvanian aurar meant a deacon's stole or gold tinsel, from orar reshaped after aur; it is recorded from about 1650.^[3][10] Aurar is also the plural of the Icelandic coin eyrir, a hundredth of a krona.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 74
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. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 54
5. ^ 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. aur
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. aurar
7. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. aurar
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 138
9. ^ a b c d 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. ^ 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. aurár
11. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. aurar