auri

Forms

auri (third-person singular present aurește, past participle aurit), 4th conjugation^[1] MDA2 records a variant dauri, and DELR dates daura or dauri “to gild” to 1839.^[2][3] An older verb aura “to gild” occurs from 1679, first as the participle aurat in Dosoftei.^[3][2] Klein's dictionary of 1801 prints the present as Aurefc, to be read auresc “I gild”.^[4]

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as a native verb formed from Romanian aur (“gold”) + -i, from the noun for gold.^[5][6][3][7] Pușcariu and the DA saw in it instead a direct continuation of Latin aurēscō (“to become golden”) or of Vulgar Latin *aurīre, and DELR gives both views.^[3][7][1] The noun aur is from Latin aurum (“gold”).^[7]

A parallel verb aura “to gild” is recorded from 1679;^[8] DELR lists the DA's view that it was formed on the noun and the view of CADE and Candrea–Densusianu that it continues aurō (“to gild”), and adds that in the 19th century it may also have followed French dorer.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the plural participle aurite “gilded” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, at Psalm 44:11.^[8][3] MDA2 and Tiktin take their first record of the verb from the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, a Romanian–Latin glossary that MDA2 dates to about 1650–1700 and Tiktin to about 1670.^[2][6] The sense was the literal one: to cover with a thin layer of gold.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From covering an object with gold the verb passed to giving something a golden gleam or look, a figurative use that DLRM and DEX illustrate with sunlight on hilltops and trees.^[5][9][2] Older regional uses are washing gold out of sand and, in folk tales, turning into gold, as when a lamb's fleece turns to gold after it eats basil.^[2][6] Tiktin notes that for literal gilding the usual phrases were a polei cu aur and a sufla cu aur.^[6] MDA2 also lists the modern sense of capping a tooth with gold.^[2]

The verb has a large family.^[3] Auritură “gilding, gilded work” is recorded from 1708 and auritor “gilder” from 1760–1761; prefixed verbs such as înauri (1771), întrauri (1812) and dezauri “to strip of gilding” (about 1832) followed.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – the participle aurite in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[8][3]
• c. 1650–1700 – auri in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary.^[2][6]
• 1679 – the parallel verb aura, as the participle aurat in Dosoftei.^[3]
• 1688 – forms of the verb appear 18 times in the Bucharest Bible.^[10]
• 1708 – auritură “gilding”.^[3]
• 1760–1761 – auritor “gilder”.^[3]
• 1771 – înauri “to gild”.^[3]
• 1812 – întrauri “to gild” in Șincai.^[3]
• c. 1832 – dezauri “to remove the gilding”, in I. Golescu.^[3]
• 1882 – aureală “gilding”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To gild: to cover an object with a thin layer of gold.^[5][2][1]
2. (figurative) To give something a golden gleam or make it look as if made of gold: Apusul aurea acoperișurile.^[5][11][1]
3. To cap a tooth with gold.^[2]
4. (regional, dated) To wash gold out of sand.^[2]
5. (reflexive, in folk tales) To turn into gold.^[5][6]

Word family

• aurit
• auritor
• auritură
• dezauri
• înauri
• întrauri

Related words

• aur
• auriu
• Latin aurum

Usage notes

The combining form auri- “gold” of learned words such as aurifer is a separate element, taken from French and Latin.^[12][13] The verb is stressed on the last syllable and pronounced in three syllables, a-u-ri.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 129
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. auri
4. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 308
5. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 74
6. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. aurí
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ a b c 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 44:11
9. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 54
10. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Numbers 7:14
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. auri
12. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. auri
13. ^ Andrei, Nicolae (1987), Dicționar etimologic de termeni științifici: elemente de compunere greco-latine, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. s.v. auri