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căprar

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word căprar

căprar1 goatherd

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1632 a text quoted in Pumnul's Lepturariu
Inherited from
Latin caprarius
Ultimate origin
Latin caper

Forms

căprar m (plural căprari)[1]

Etymology

The word for the goatherd is inherited from Latin caprārius (“goatherd”).[2][3][4][5][6] The Latin noun is formed on caper (“goat”) with the suffix -ārius, and Varro and Columella already use it for a goatherd.[7] Wiktionary adds that, seen from Romanian, it matches capră with the suffix -ar.[1]

DELR calls the Latin word pan-Romance.[3] It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian cãprar and Megleno-Romanian căprar.[2][8][9][10] DELR also records an Aromanian variant căpărar.[3] The Romance cognates include Italian capraio, French chevrier, Spanish cabrero and Portuguese cabreiro.[2][6] Ciorănescu warns against confusing it with its homograph, the word for a corporal.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1632, in a text that Tiktin cites from Pumnul's Lepturariu.[3][4] The Bible of 1688 has it in the words of the prophet Amos: „ce căprariu eram” “but I was a goatherd”.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its one sense, “goatherd”, which DEX now labels rare.[5][2] Romanian formed several words on it for goat-keeping: căprăreasă “goat-girl”, căprărie and căprărit, both “goat fold”.[2][3] Căprăreață “goat pen” is first recorded as a place name in 1500;[11] Candrea and Densusianu derive it from a Latin *capraricia, while Ciorănescu also allows a Romanian formation with the suffix -eață.[2][3] In Maramureș the word lives on in the surname Căprar or Căprariu.[11]

Timeline

  • 1500 – the derivative căprăreață “goat pen” as a place name.[3]
  • 1632 – căprar “goatherd”, the first record.[3][4]
  • 1688 – căprariu in the Bucharest Bible (Amos 7:14).[4]
  • 1822 – căprărie “goat fold”.[3]
  • 1825 – the feminine căprăreasă.[3]
  • 1896 – căprărit “goat fold”.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (rare) A goatherd, a man who tends goats.[5][12][1]

Word family

  • căprăreasă
  • căprăreață
  • căprărie
  • căprărit

căprar2 corporal

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
Nicolae Costin's chronicle
Borrowed from
Hungarian káprár
Ultimate origin
Latin caput

Forms

căprar m (plural căprari)[1]

Etymology

The word for the corporal is borrowed from Hungarian káprár, beside káplár, as DEX, MDA2 and the DA give it.[5][12][13] Wiktionary and the Maramureș dictionary of Ștef call the Hungarian source probable rather than certain.[1][14] NODEX names German Kapral beside the Hungarian word, and Borcia took it from that soldiers' word, or from Korpral, reshaped by folk etymology after capră.[15][16]

The Hungarian word, recorded from 1665, comes from a Bavarian-Austrian form; German Korporal is the same word.[17][18] Its ultimate source is Italian caporale (“corporal”), formed on capo (“head, chief”), from Latin caput (“head”).[17][19] Tiktin thus calls the Romanian word indirectly Italian, and it is a doublet of caporal, the later loan of the same Italian word.[4][1] DEX compares the Bulgarian and Russian forms of the word.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 finds the first record in Nicolae Costin's chronicle, with the military rank.[12] The DA quotes it from the old Moldavian chronicles, from Stolnicul Dumitrache's account of casualties (“2 căprari … were wounded”) and in folk poetry.[13]

Semantic evolution

The corporal was a soldier between the private and the sergeant, who once had a small squad under him.[4] The squad itself was a căprărie, and in figurative use the word became a group of people led by one of them, as pupils divided into căprării.[13] The rank is now caporal, and căprar is popular or dated.[5][20] In the game of țurca the word also named the young man who collects the ring-shaped loaves.[12][13] Slang has given it new senses: a night guard among prisoners, a harsh boss, and a mannish woman.[21]

Timeline

  • 1805 – the feminine căprăriță “corporal's wife”.[13]
  • 1892 – căprar “corporal” in a verse anecdote quoted by Tiktin.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (popular, dated) A corporal, the lowest rank of non-commissioned officer; caporal.[5][12][15]
  2. (regional) In the game of țurca, the young man who gathers the colaci (ring-shaped loaves).[12]
  3. (slang) A night supervisor among prisoners; a very strict boss.[21]

Usage notes

DEX writes the goatherd as căprar¹ and the corporal as căprar²; both have the plural căprari.[5] The DA records a variant căplar of the corporal word.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. căprar
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. căprar
  4. ^ 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. căprar
  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. 1, 159
  6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1648
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română
  11. ^ a b Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. căprár¹
  12. ^ 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, 327
  13. ^ a b c d e f 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. căprar
  14. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2011), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din Maramureș, Baia Mare: Ethnologica, p. s.v. căprar
  15. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. căprar
  16. ^ Borcia, Ioan (1903–1904), Deutsche Sprachelemente im Rumänischen, Leipzig (in Weigand, Zehnter Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig), p. 43
  17. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
  18. ^ Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  19. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 532
  20. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 366
  21. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. căprar

Related etymologies

  • tău · also from Hungarian
  • baie · also from Hungarian
  • suci · also from Hungarian
  • must · also from Hungarian
  • ban · also from Hungarian
  • gândi · also from Hungarian
  • fel · also from Hungarian
  • seamă · also from Hungarian
Cite this entry

“Căprar.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/c%C4%83prar. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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