degetar

Forms

degetar n (plural degetare)^[1]

Etymology

Most Romanian dictionaries explain it as formed from Romanian deget (“finger”) + -ar, with the same suffix as ștergar and cordar.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, CADE and Giuglea take it instead as inherited from Late Latin digitāle (“thimble”), the neuter of Latin digitālis (“of the finger”), with the ending changed to that of the Romanian nouns in ⟨-ar⟩;^{[7][8][9][10]} DELR gives this view first, and Ciorănescu thinks it possible.^{[7][8][9][10]} The REW lists the word with the Romance descendants of the Latin noun: Italian ditale, Friulian dedal, French dé, Catalan didal, Spanish dedal and Portuguese dedal.^[11][8] The Latin adjective is formed digitus (“finger”) with -ālis.^[12]

The same word is Aromanian dzidzitar “thimble”, which Papahagi and Pascu derive from the Latin noun.^[13][14] Wiktionary calls it a doublet of digital, which came through French.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first dated record is the form degetári in T. Corbea's dictionary of 1691–1697.^[7] MDA2 and DLR cite first the Lexicon Marsilianum, the 17th-century Latin–Romanian–Hungarian dictionary edited by Tagliavini, for the sense “thimble”.^[4][3] Tiktin's first record is of 1703.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is the thimble worn on the finger that pushes the needle; it displaced the older năpârstoc.^[5][3] As a measure of smallness it gives cât un degetar “tiny”: Camil Petrescu has a pipe the size of a thimble.^[3][4]

The name also covers the foxglove (Digitalis ambigua); degetariță (1898) and degetărel (1885) are other popular names of the plant.^[2][7][15] In the Câmpulung region of Bucovina it also names a coral fungus.^[15]

Timeline

• 1691–1697 – degetári in T. Corbea's dictionary.^[7]
• 1703 – first record in Tiktin.^[5]
• 1825 – the diminutive degetaș in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[7]
• 1868 – degetăruț, a plant name, in Barcianu.^[7]
• 1885 – degetărel, the foxglove.^[7]
• 1898 – degetăriță, the foxglove, in Grecescu's flora.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. thimble: a small cap of metal or plastic worn on the finger that pushes the needle in sewing.^[2][4][1]
2. The foxglove (Digitalis ambigua), a poisonous plant with large yellow or purple flowers; also called degetariță and degețel.^[2][15][1]

Word family

• degetăriță
• degetărel

Related words

• deget
• degețel
• digital
• Aromanian dzidzitar
• Latin digitālis

Usage notes

The plural is degetare, in the old language also degetaruri.^[4] Regional variants include degitar, deiștar in Moldavia and gegetar, gigetar in Banat and Maramureș.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 283
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. degetar
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 630
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. degetar
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 399
7. ^ 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. deget
8. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 479
9. ^ a b 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. deget
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. degetar
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2637
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. digitālis
13. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 433
14. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 80
15. ^ a b c Panțu, Zach. C. (1929), Plantele cunoscute de poporul român. Vocabular botanic cuprinzând numirile române, franceze, germane și științifice, 2nd ed., București: Editura Casei Școalelor, p. 81