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cicoare

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word cicoare

cicoare1 chicory

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1633 a text in Pumnul's Lepturariu
Inherited from
Latin *cichoria
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek κιχόριον

Forms

cicoare f (plural cicori)[1] Variants: cicoară and, in Moldavia, ciucoare, the form Dosoftei uses.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The word for chicory is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cichoria, a form taken from the plural of cichōrium, which comes from Ancient Greek κιχόριον (kikhórion, “chicory”).[5][6][4][1] DELR writes the popular Latin form as cichorea, beside cichoreum.[2][3] The DA notes that the word lived on as a popular one only in Albanian and southern Italy: Albanian kore and Neapolitan cecojǝra.[7][2][8] The word survives south of the Danube as Aromanian tsicoarã.[9][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1633, in a text printed in Pumnul's Lepturariu.[3] DELR and MDA2 start from Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints (1682–1686), where a hermit lived on nothing but ciucoare.[2][4][7]

Semantic evolution

Besides the wild plant, the word names the coffee substitute made from its roasted root, and the garden kind, cicoare de grădină, is the endive.[6][3] Its blue flowers made it a common comparison for blue eyes in literature and in folk song, where frunză verde de cicoare opens many verses.[7][11] Peasants girded themselves with chicory on the feast of Drăgaica so that their backs would not ache during the year.[7]

Timeline

  • 1633 – first record, in a text of Pumnul's Lepturariu.[3]
  • c. 1650 – the diminutive cicorea.[2]
  • 1682–1686 – ciucoare in Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. chicory (Cichorium intybus), a herb with blue, pink or white flowers grown for its roots;[6][1] cicoare de grădină is endive.[6][1]
  2. A substitute for coffee made from the root of this plant.[6][4]

cicoare2 cicada

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1703
Inherited from
Latin *cicala
Ultimate origin
Latin cicāda

Forms

cicoare f (plural cicori)[1] Variant: cicoară.[2][4]

Etymology

The word for the cicada is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cicāla, the popular form of cicāda (“cicada”).[6][5][2][1] The regular outcome would have been ⟨*cicară⟩.[5][2] DER, DELR and the DA think the word was drawn towards cicoare1 “chicory”.[5][2][7] The popular form is recorded in a ninth-century glossary.[1] De Vaan takes the classical word for an onomatopoeic formation, perhaps a loan.[12]

South of the Danube it survives as Megleno-Romanian țicoari “cricket”.[5][13] Its cognates include Italian cicala, Occitan cigala, Spanish cigarra and Albanian kjingalë.[5][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1703.[2] MDA2 cites it only from Marian's study of insects in Romanian folklore (1903).[4]

Semantic evolution

The word is regional and names the manna cicada (Cicada orni), a large brown insect whose shrill song recalls a cricket's; it is also called greier-de-toamnă “autumn cricket”.[7][2][4]

Timeline

  • 1703 – first record.[2]
  • 1903 – in Marian's Insectele.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (regional) The cicada Cicada orni, a yellowish-brown insect with a black back and long clear wings.[6][1][4]
  • cicadă
  • cicăli

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. cicoare
  3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cicoare
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 394
  5. ^ a b c d e f 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. cicoare
  6. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 183
  7. ^ a b c d e f 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. cicoare
  8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 59
  9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
  10. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
  11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 420
  12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  13. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 308
  14. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1897

Related etymologies

  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
  • sta · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Cicoare.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/cicoare. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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