Etymology and origin of the Romanian word carieră
carieră1 quarry
Etymology tree of carieră1
Forms
carieră f (plural cariere)[1]
Etymology
The word for the surface mine is borrowed from French carrière, as DEX, MDA2, the DA and the DN give it;[2][3] Tiktin and DELR also name borrowed from Italian carriera, and the DA has the French word from Italian.[4][5][2][3][6][7] DELR and Scriban trace it to Latin quadrāria, from quadrus (“squared”), properly a squared block of building stone.[7][8] DELR and Tiktin give it an entry of its own, apart from the word for a profession.[7][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1856, in the sense “stone quarry”.[7][6]
Semantic evolution
The DA defines it as a place where building or paving stone, marble or sand is extracted;[2] DEX widens it to any open-air mine for minerals and building materials.[2][4] Regional speech often uses baie or mină for it instead.[2][5]
Timeline
Meanings
Noun
carieră2 career
Etymology tree of carieră2
Forms
carieră f (plural cariere)[1]
Etymology
The word for a profession is borrowed from French carrière, as DELR, MDA2, DEX and Tiktin give it.[7][5][4][6] The French word meant a racecourse and then the course of a life or a profession; it came from Italian carriera (“cart road; fast run of a horse”), itself from Old Occitan carreira, from Vulgar Latin *carrāria (“cart road”), from carrus (“cart”).[7][9] It is thus a doublet of the inherited cărare “path”.[1][10] Gabinschi calls it a European word of Italian origin, spread through French to German and Russian as well.[10]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1829, in the sense “profession, professional course”.[7][6] MDA2 first finds it in Marcovici's Datoriile omului creștin of 1839.[5]
Semantic evolution
The oldest dictionaries keep the French senses: a racecourse for horses or chariots, then figuratively the course of a life and the time someone spends in an office.[11][12] Negulici in 1848 already defines it as the trade or art one lives by.[13] From “profession” came a step in the social or professional hierarchy, a good position in society, and the phrase a face carieră “to advance quickly”, often undeservedly.[4][5] Eminescu mocked those who hoped their wives' husbands would open a career for them as ministers.[6]
The derivatives came after the Second World War: carierism “careerism” from 1948 and carierist “careerist” from 1955, from French or Russian.[7]
Timeline
- 1829 – carieră “profession”, the first record.[7][6]
- 1839 – carieră in Marcovici's Datoriile omului creștin.[5]
- 1848 – carieră “trade, occupation” in Negulici's dictionary.[13]
- 1948 – carierism “careerism”.[7]
- 1955 – carierist “careerist”.[7]
Meanings
Noun
- A profession, occupation; a field of activity; the time someone works in a field: a career.[4][1]
- A stage in the social or professional hierarchy; a good position in society;[14] a face carieră “to rise quickly in one's profession”.[4][5]
- (historical) A course for horse or chariot races; a large open-air riding ground.[5][14]
Word family
- carierism
- carierist
Related words
Usage notes
Both words are pronounced with the vowels apart, ca-ri-e-ră, and have the plural cariere.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e 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. carieră
- ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. carieră
- ^ 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. 147
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 299
- ^ 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. carieră
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. carieră
- ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 232
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 75
- ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. carieră
- ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 106
- ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București
- ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. carieră
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Carieră.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/carier%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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