cărindar

Forms

cărindar m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin calendārius (“of the calends”), understood with mēnsis (“month”), as Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the DA and DEX give it.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary writes the Latin source as calendārium.^[1] The adjective comes from calendae (“the first day of the month”), which according to Candrea and Densusianu here meant the first day of the year, the New Year feast.^[2][5] They explain the Romanian sense by the pagan feast of the calends of January, which was confused with Christmas and with the start of the year.^[5]

DELR also gives Löfstedt's view: Latin calendārum, the genitive plural, with a word for “day” or “feast” understood, as in Occitan calendar (“last day of the month”) and calendor (“Christmas”).^[2] Wiktionary compares Albanian kallnor (“January”).^[1] The neologism calendar is a doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1761–1762, as the popular name of January and, in Transylvania, for a calendar.^[2] Tiktin's first record is of 1765, and a Cărindariu rumânesc was printed in Sibiu in 1794.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “almanac” is now obsolete, and the month name survives in popular speech beside the usual ianuarie.^[2][3][4] In Maramureș the forms călindariu and călundar occur, though ianuari is far more common there.^[6] In Șezătoarea it named a verse satire or an anecdote.^[4] CADE records the saying a face cuiva capul cărindar “to make someone's head spin”.^[7]

Timeline

• 1761–1762 – cărindar “January; calendar”, the first record.^[2]
• 1765 – a record cited by Tiktin.^[4]
• 1794 – the almanac Cărindariu rumânesc printed in Sibiu.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (popular) January.^[3][2][1]
2. (obsolete, Transylvania) A calendar, an almanac.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• calendar
• ianuarie
• Albanian kallnor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. cărindar
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 160
4. ^ 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. cărindar
5. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
6. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. cărindár
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cărindar