dur

Forms

dur m or n (feminine singular dură, masculine plural duri, feminine/neuter plural dure)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French dur and a learned borrowed from Latin dūrus (“hard”), as DELR, MDA2 and DEX give it.^[2][3][4] Tiktin and Scriban give Latin alone, Ciorănescu Latin in the 19th century, and the DN adds Italian duro.^[5][6][7][8] In the musical sense “major” it follows German Dur, from the same Latin word in its medieval use.^[2][9]

The Latin word was inherited by all the other Romance languages, as Catalan dur, Spanish duro and Portuguese duro beside the Italian and French words.^[2][10] In Romanian it survives only south of the Danube: Aromanian dură (“step- (of a mother)”).^[2] De Vaan derives the Latin word from Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-ro- (“far, long”), with a sense shift from “long-lasting” to “hard”; the OLD suggests a dissimilated form ⟨*drū-ros⟩ instead.^[11][12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1844, in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[2] Tiktin's first record is a dictionary of 1863.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, of solids that resist scratching or piercing, came with the figurative one, of harsh, severe or brutal people and acts.^[2][4] Scientific uses followed: hard water, rich in calcium and magnesium salts, and the hard consonant of phonetics, articulated without a palatal element.^[4][2] MDA2 adds strong light and harsh sounds.^[3] The musical sense “major” is old and rare.^[2]

Derivatives date from the 20th century: durifica “to harden” from 1920, in Pușcariu, duracord “major chord” from 1937, deduriza “to soften (water)” from 1942 and durcisare “hardening” from 1950.^[2]

Timeline

• 1844 – dur “hard” in Heliade-Rădulescu, the first record.^[2]
• 1863 – dur in a dictionary.^[5]
• 1920 – durifica “to harden”.^[2]
• 1937 – duracord “major chord”.^[2]
• 1942 – dedurizare “water softening”.^[2]
• 1950 – durcisare “hardening of a metal”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of solids: hard, difficult to scratch or pierce.^[4][1]
2. Of water: containing calcium and magnesium salts above the limit for drinking or industrial water.^[4]
3. (phonetics) consoană dură: a consonant articulated without any palatal element.^[4]
4. (figurative) harsh, severe; violent, brutal, cruel.^[4][1]
5. (music, rare) major.^[2][3]

Word family

• deduriza
• durcisare
• durifica
• durilon
• duritate
• duroscop
• extradur

Related words

• Latin dūrus

Usage notes

DEX has a second dur, an interjection, which it sends to dura “rolling, tumbling”;^[13] Ciorănescu calls that word an expressive creation imitating the noise of a rolling object.^[4][7] A third, old dur! “stop!”, used by Turks in Dionisie's chronicle (1814–1820), is the Turkish imperative of durmak “to stand still”.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. dur
3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 774
4. ^ 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. 337
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. dur
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 455
7. ^ 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. dur
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. dur
9. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. dur
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2808
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. dūrus
13. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. contract