capră

Forms

capră f (plural capre)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin capra (“she-goat”), the feminine of caper (“he-goat”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} The Latin word is found throughout the Romance languages, and DÉRom reconstructs it for Proto-Romance.^[3][7] The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kápros.^[1]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian caprã, Megleno-Romanian capră and Istro-Romanian cåpra.^[2][3][8][9] Its Romance cognates include Italian capra, Sardinian craba, French chèvre, Occitan cabra, Catalan cabra, Spanish cabra and Portuguese cabra.^[2][10] Ciorănescu and Candrea also compare Albanian kjepër.^[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1425.^[12] DELR dates the word to c. 1500, and DÉRom gives the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (c. 1500–1510) as the first Romanian text with it.^[3][7] MDA2 cites Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The animal sense is the core: the domestic goat and, more narrowly, the female.^[5][4] Ciorănescu notes that in the 17th to 19th centuries capră was a nickname for Greeks, who were thought boastful.^[2] A masked goat dancer is part of the New Year customs, and a children's game of leapfrog has the same name.^[5][2]

Many objects with four splayed legs or a raised frame were named after the goat: the sawhorse, a scaffolding trestle, the coachman's box on a carriage and the vaulting horse of gymnastics.^[5][2] DA compares the same metaphors in other languages, such as German Sägebock “sawhorse” and Bock for the coachman's box.^[13] Regional uses add a cooper's compass, a lifting bar at the water mill and a chimney in the attic.^[2][14][15]

The word has a large family, dated by DELR: căprar “goatherd” from 1632, căpresc “of goats” from 1703, căpriu “brown (of eyes)” from 1825 and căprui from 1829.^[3]

Timeline

• 1425 – the first date given by Tiktin.^[12]
• c. 1500–1510 – the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first Romanian text with the word.^[7][3]
• 1581 – capră in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.^[4]
• 1632 – căprar “goatherd”.^[3]
• 1649 – capră in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[16]
• 1703 – the adjective căpresc “of goats”.^[3]
• 1825 – căpriu, of brown eyes.^[3]
• 1829 – căprui “hazel, brown”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A goat: a genus of ruminants with long hair and horns, larger in the males, or an animal of this genus, in particular the female.^[5][4][1]
2. The skin of a goat.^[5]
3. A New Year folk custom in which a dancer masked with a goat's head performs comic figures, or the masked dancer himself.^[5]
4. capra: a children's game in which the players jump over one who bends down, leapfrog.^[5][1]
5. A sawhorse: a wooden stand with crossed legs on which wood is laid for sawing.^[5][1]
6. A frame of crossed timbers supporting a scaffold or a platform.^[5]
7. The coachman's seat at the front of a carriage or cart.^[5]
8. A vaulting horse used in gymnastics.^[5][1]
9. A lamb's knucklebone.^[5]

Word family

• căpresc
• căprește
• căpriță
• căprișor
• căpriu
• căprui
• căpros
• căproi

Related words

• căprar
• căprior
• căprioară
• căprină
• Aromanian caprã
• Latin capra

Usage notes

A împăca și capra, și varza “to please both the goat and the cabbage” means to reconcile two opposed interests.^[5][4] The compounds capră-neagră and capră-de-munte name the chamois, and capră de stâncă the ibex.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. capră
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. capră
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, 291
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 142
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 245
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 59
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1647
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
12. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. capră
13. ^ 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. capră
14. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2011), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din Maramureș, Baia Mare: Ethnologica, p. s.v. capră
15. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 102
16. ^ 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. capră