căsar

Forms

căsar m (plural căsari)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian casă + -ar, according to MDA2, and DELR lists it in the family of the noun.^[2][3] Candrea and Densusianu and Wiktionary take it instead from Latin casārius, which named a cottager in the Theodosian Code.^[4][1][5] The REW lists the Latin word with Spanish casero (“landlord”) and Portuguese caseiro (“occupant of a house”), but thinks the differing senses rather point to separate formations in each language.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1646, for a man who has a house of his own, a married man;^[4] MDA2 finds it in the Moldavian law code of Vasile Lupu.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the old language a căsar was a settled householder, and the word was also used as an adjective for “married”.^[2][4] In Maramureș it survives for the man who stays at home and looks after the household.^[7][8][2]

Timeline

• 1646 – căsar “householder; married man”, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1925 – căsar “one who stays at home” in Papahagi's Maramureș glossary.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) A householder; a married man.^[2][3][1]
2. (regional, Maramureș) A man who stays and works at home; casnic.^[2][8]

Adjective

1. (obsolete) married.^[2]

Related words

• casă
• casnic
• căsători

References

1. ^ a b c 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” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 332
3. ^ a b c d 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. căsar
4. ^ a b c d Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1925), Graiul și folklorul Maramureșului, București: Cultura Națională, p. 214
8. ^ a b Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. căsár