barbă

Forms

barbă f (plural bărbi)^[1] The Psaltirea Hurmuzaki has the articled form in Psalm 132:2, the oil running down upon the beard: barba.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin barba (“beard”), a word common to the Romance languages.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”).^[1] It survives in all four branches: Aromanian barbã, Megleno-Romanian barbă and Istro-Romanian borbę.^[4][3][1]

Ciorănescu compares bărbat “man”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a personal name in a Slavonic charter of 1436, Barbă Stan.^[3][6] As a common noun the word appears in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, in Psalm 132:2.^[3][2] MDA2 gives Varlaam's Cazania (1643) as its first source.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Beside the beard, the word names the chin, the tuft under an animal's muzzle and the awns of cereal ears; in Banat it is also the front of the plough's frame.^[3][5] Names like Barbă-lată “broad beard” (1590) and Barbă-albă “white beard” (1593) kept the word in use as a byname.^[6] Orthodox priests had to wear beards, so a rade barba cuiva meant to unfrock someone.^[6] Many plant names are compounds: barba-caprei “goat's beard”, barba-împăratului “marvel of Peru”, barba-ursului “horsetail”.^[5][6]

Of the derivatives, bărbier “barber” is recorded in 1561 in a Slavonic document and in Romanian texts from 1665–1685.^[3] Bărbie “chin” (1665–1685) is either from Latin *barbīlia or a Romanian formation on barbă.^[3] The French and Italian loans barbișon (1872) and barbetă (1840) joined the family later.^[3]

Timeline

• 1436 – Barbă Stan, a personal name, the first record.^[3][6]
• c. 1500–1520 – barba in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[3][2]
• 1561 – bărbier “barber” in a Slavonic document.^[3]
• 1643 – in Varlaam's Cazania.^[7]
• 1665–1685 – bărbie “chin” in Milescu's Septuagint translation.^[3]
• 1688 – barbele “their beards” in the Bucharest Bible.^[6]
• 1853 – bărbărie “bushy beard” in Alecsandri.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A beard: the hair growing on a man's chin and cheeks.^[5][1]
2. The chin.^[5][1]
3. A tuft of hair under the muzzle of some animals.^[5]
4. The awn of an ear of grain.^[5][3]

Word family

• bărbie
• bărbier
• bărbieri
• bărbos
• bărbărie
• bărbuță

Related words

• bărbat
• Aromanian barbã
• Latin barba

Usage notes

În barbă means “to oneself, secretly”, as in laughing into one's beard.^[5] In slang a trage bărbi is to tell tall tales.^[5] A proverb says barbă mare, dar minte n-are “a long beard but no sense”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 132:2
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. barbă
4. ^ 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. barbă
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 89
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. bárbă
7. ^ 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, 165