brățară

Forms

brățară f (plural brățări)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin brachiāle (“armlet, bracelet”),^{[2][3][4][5][1]} a derivative of bracchium (“arm”).^[1] Its Romance cognates include Italian bracciale, Old French bracel, Spanish brazal and Portuguese braçal.^[2][6][7]

The Moldavian variant brățea is a singular rebuilt from the plural ⟨brățele⟩ of a form ⟨*brățală⟩, in which the second /r/ of the word was dissimilated to /l/.^[3][7] The variant ⟨brațoletă⟩ is a later loan of Italian braccialetto, probably through Greek.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the plural brățări in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (c. 1500–1520); the singular brățară is not recorded before 1720.^[3] Tiktin cites a record of about 1617, and MDA2 dates the word from the Bucharest Bible of 1688.^[8][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is the ornament worn on the arm or wrist.^[5][4] From its shape the word came to name a band round a column, a metal ring that holds the scythe blade on its handle, and the iron hoop of a barrel.^[8][4] In technical use it is a clamp that fixes pipes or cables to a wall.^[5] On peasant shirts it is the embroidered cuff of the sleeve.^[5][3]

The word passed into Ukrainian as brycari “shirt sleeve”.^[2][7]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – the plural brățări in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[3]
• c. 1617 – Tiktin's first dated record.^[8]
• c. 1650 – the variant brățar.^[3]
• c. 1672–1673 – brățări in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[9]
• 1688 – brățări and brățare in the Bucharest Bible.^[4][3]
• 1719 – the diminutive brățărușă.^[3]
• 1720 – the singular brățară.^[3]
• 1837 – the Moldavian brățea in Negruzzi.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bracelet: a ring of metal or another material worn on the wrist or arm.^[5][1]
2. An embroidered cuff on the sleeves of peasant shirts.^[5]
3. (technical) A clamp of one or more pieces tightened round other parts, or a metal ring fixing pipes or cables to a wall.^[5]
4. (architecture) A metal ring round a column, or a moulding of that shape.^[5][4]

Related words

• braț
• Latin brachiāle

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. brățară
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. braț
4. ^ 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, 242
5. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 117
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1254
7. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
8. ^ 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. brățară
9. ^ 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. brățări