călăreț

Forms

călăreț m (plural călăreți, feminine equivalent călăreață)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *caballāricius, a derivative of Latin caballus (“horse”), as Candrea and Densusianu proposed and DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary accept.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Candrea and Densusianu compared Italian cavaliereccio, Old French chevalerez and Spanish caballerizo, which point to the same Latin type.^[5] The word survives in Aromanian too: Aromanian cãlãrets.^[6][7]

Others take it as a Romanian formation: Ciorănescu, Scriban and the DA (as a possibility) derive it from călare “on horseback”, the DA also from the old călariu “horseman”, with the suffix -eț;^{[2][8][9][10]} Cihac derived it from călări.^{[2][8][9][10]} DELR lists all these views.^[2] The Latin word for “horse” is itself a loanword, of unclear origin.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1645, in a translation of Herodotus.^[2][10] Miron Costin uses it as an adjective of an army: „văzând că trece oastea călăreață prin alt vad” “seeing that the mounted host was crossing at another ford”.^[10][9]

Semantic evolution

The adjective “mounted, on horseback” (oastea călăreață “the cavalry”) came first; as a noun the word replaced the older călăraș for a rider and for a cavalry soldier.^[9][2] Neculce already praises an emperor as călăreț bun “a good horseman”, and the feminine călăreață is used for a horsewoman.^[9][10] The sense “cavalry soldier” is now old.^[3][4]

In modern technical language the word names small pieces that sit astride something: a metal tab clipped onto a library or office index card, a U-shaped wire rider on the beam of a balance, a wire bridge that closes a circuit, and a short bar of extra reinforcement at the support of a concrete beam.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1645 – first record, in a translation of Herodotus.^[2][10]
• 17th century – oastea călăreață “the mounted host” in Miron Costin.^[10][9]
• 1688 – călăreț and călăreți many times in the Bucharest Bible, for instance in Exodus 15:1.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rider, horseman or horsewoman; a sportsman who practises riding.^[3][4][1]
2. (dated) A cavalry soldier; călăraș.^[3][4][1]
3. A small metal tab clipped to the top of an index card.^[3][4]
4. A small U-shaped wire placed on the arm of a balance to bring it to equilibrium; a similar wire that closes an electric circuit.^[3][4]
5. A short steel bar used as extra reinforcement at the support of a reinforced-concrete beam.^[3][4]

Adjective

1. mounted, riding;^[3][9] (of troops) fighting on horseback: Un detașament călăreț a trecut râul.^[3][9]

Related words

• cal
• călare
• încăleca
• călări
• călăraș
• călărie
• Aromanian cãlãrets
• Latin caballus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. călare
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 156
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 319
5. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
6. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 55
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 246
8. ^ a b 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. călare
9. ^ 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. călăreț
10. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. călăreț
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Ex 15:1