cheotoare

Forms

cheotoare f (plural cheotori)^[1] Variants: cheutoare (Moldavia, Banat), chiotoare, regional cheptoare, chetoare, cheietoare.^[2][3][4] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has the plural cheotori for the loops of the tabernacle curtains (Exodus 26:10).^[5][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *clautoria, built on *clautus, a variant of *clavutus, and so going back to Latin clāvus (“nail”).^[6][7][1] DELR traces the form to *clāvātōria, from clāvō (“to nail”), which became the form above, and gives this as the view of Pușcariu, the DA and Ciorănescu.^[4][8] Candrea and Densusianu derived it from the same form through ⟨chetoare⟩, with ⟨chiotoare⟩ by assimilation.^[4] Tiktin thought of *clavitoria or the ⟨*clavatoria⟩ form, linked to clāvis (“key”), and compared greutate from gravitatem.^[3]

The related Aromanian cljitor “wooden bowl with a lid” is a word that DELR and Papahagi derive from a related *clāvātōrium.^[4][9][10] Some variants were reshaped by related words: ⟨cheietoare⟩ by cheie, ⟨cheptoare⟩ by ⟨chept⟩, the old form of piept, and ⟨închiotoare⟩ by încheia.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1508 and DELR to 1509, both in the Slavonic–Romanian documents.^[3][4] In old deeds a piatră cheotoare was a boundary stone between two estates; the DA quotes it from documents of 1785 and 1789.^[8][2] The 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons give chiotoare for Slavonic петля “loop”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word names whatever joins two parts together, as încheia “to join, to button” does.^[3][8] In carpentry it is the notch that takes another timber and the jointed ends of the beams at the four corners of a peasant house; hence also the corner of a house or of a fence.^[8][2] On clothing it was one of the two ties that close the collar of a peasant shirt, a loop for a button, and finally the buttonhole.^[3][6] Regional senses include the corner of the mouth, a book clasp and the strap that holds the scythe blade.^[8][2]

Timeline

• 1508 – first record, in a Slavonic–Romanian document.^[3]
• c. 1650 – the verb deschiotora “to unbutton”.^[4]
• c. 1660–1670 – chiotoare “loop” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[11]
• 1688 – cheotori “loops” in the Bucharest Bible.^[5]
• 1785 – chiotori “boundary stones” in a document.^[8]
• 1825 – the verb închiotora “to join, to lace up”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small loop of thread, cord or cloth on a garment, through which a button is passed.^[6][1]
2. A buttonhole, especially the slit in the lapel of a man's jacket.^[6][12]
3. (popular) The joint where the beams meet at the corners of a house.^[6][2]
4. (obsolete, in piatră cheotoare) A boundary stone.^[2][8]

Word family

• cheotură
• deschiotora
• închiotora

Related words

• cheie
• încheia
• încheietură
• Aromanian cljitor

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 373
3. ^ 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. cheotoare
4. ^ 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. cheotoare
5. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Exodus 26:10
6. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 176
7. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 138
8. ^ a b c d e f g 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. cheotoare
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 299
10. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 323
11. ^ a b 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. chiotoare
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. cheotoare