Etymologically
Log in

furnicar

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word furnicar

furnicar1 anthill

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1660–1670 Slavonic–Romanian lexicon Lex.St.
Inherited from
Latin *formicarium
Ultimate origin
Latin formīca

Pronunciation

  • /fur.niˈkar/[1]

Forms

furnicar n (plural furnicare)[1]

Etymology

The word for the anthill is inherited from Vulgar Latin *formīcārium, a derivative of Latin formīca (“ant”).[1][2][3] DEX 2009, MDA2 and DLRM write the etymon as Latin formicarius.[4][5][6] Ciorănescu reports the Latin derivation from Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and the DA, but adds that it may be a Romanian derivative of furnică.[3] Tiktin also lists it under the word for the ant.[7][3][7]

It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian furnicar and Megleno-Romanian furnigar.[8][9] The REW sets it beside Italian formicaio, French fourmilière, Occitan formiguier, Spanish hormiguero and Portuguese formigueiro, all derivatives of the word for the ant.[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates furnicar to 1547, from a Slavonic–Romanian document (his siglum DERS), in an article that covers both nouns.[7] Furnicar renders Slavonic words for the ant and the anthill in the Slavonic–Romanian lexicon Lex.St. of c. 1660–1670.[11] MDA2's first record for the anthill is the farming manual Povățuire cătră Economia de cîmp, where hayfields had to be cleared of molehills and anthills.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

From the anthill the word passed to the ants living in it, and figuratively to a crowd of people that swarms like them.[4][2] Negruzzi and Alecsandri already use it of a mass of people, un furnicar de intriganți and turcescul furnicar, the Turkish host.[2] Tiktin quotes Gane's un furnicar de șerpi “a swarm of snakes”.[7] The proverb nu băga bâta-n furnicar “don't stick your stick into the anthill” means “don't meddle where you have no business”.[5][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1660–1670 – furnicar in the Slavonic–Romanian lexicon Lex.St.[11]
  • 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary defines it as an anthill and a swarming mass of insects or animals.[12]
  • 1886 – Barcianu has the neuter for the anthill.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An anthill: a small mound of earth that shelters a colony of ants; a mușuroi.[4][5]
  2. All the ants of one anthill.[4][5]
  3. (figurative) A swarming crowd of people.[4][5]

furnicar2 bee-eater; anteater

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1883 Marian's folk ornithology
Ultimate origin
Latin formīca
Etymology tree of furnicar2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin formīca
Romanian furnică
Romanian furnicar

Pronunciation

  • /fur.niˈkar/[1]

Forms

furnicar m (plural furnicari)[1]

Etymology

The word for the bird and the anteater is formed from Romanian furnică + -ar, with the agent suffix: an animal that eats or seeks ants.[4][5][14][1] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of the word for the ant.[3] Candrea and Densusianu instead took it from a Latin formicarius, reshaped after the Romanian word for the ant.[15] That noun is inherited from Latin formīca (“ant”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marian's folk ornithology (1883), as the DA quotes it, records furnicar as a name of the bee-eater and of the lesser spotted woodpecker.[14] MDA2's first record is later, N. Leon's study of Romanian folk medicine of 1903, for an ant.[5]

Semantic evolution

The masculine names several animals tied to ants: the red wood ant itself (furnicar-roșu), birds that eat insects, and mammals that feed on ants.[5][14] Tiktin gives the woodpecker as a Moldavian name and the bee-eater as a name from Bukovina.[7] Șăineanu in 1929 gives it as the Bukovinian name of the bee-eater, prigoare.[16] In Broșteni, Popovici-Kirileanu heard it for a smaller kind of bear with a white patch on its chest that overturns stones in search of ants.[14] The zoological sense, the South American anteater, is in Tiktin and Scriban.[7][17]

Timeline

  • 1883 – the bee-eater and the lesser spotted woodpecker in Marian's folk ornithology.[14]
  • 1886 – Barcianu has the masculine for the great spotted woodpecker.[13]
  • 1903 – an ant in N. Leon's study of folk medicine and the red wood ant in Marian's book on insects.[5][14]
  • 1939 – the American anteater in Scriban's dictionary.[17]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (ornithology) The bee-eater (Merops apiaster), the same as albinărel.[4][5]
  2. (regional) The lesser spotted woodpecker (Picus minor).[5][14]
  3. (regional) The red wood ant (Formica rufa).[5][14]
  4. A South American anteater (Myrmecophaga jubata) with a long narrow head, a pointed snout and a long sticky tongue, which feeds on ants.[4][5]

Usage notes

The two nouns differ in gender and plural: the anthill is neuter, plural furnicare (rarely furnicari), the animal masculine, plural furnicari.[4][2] Delavrancea uses a variant furnicai (furnecai) with another suffix for the anthill.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. furnicár
  3. ^ a b c d e 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. furnică
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 421
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 956
  6. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. furnicar
  7. ^ 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. furnicár
  8. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. s.v. furnicar
  9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 133
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3445
  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. furnicar
  12. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 465
  13. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 242
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. furnicár 2
  15. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. furnicar
  16. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 264
  17. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 535

Related etymologies

  • apă · also from Latin
  • 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
Cite this entry

“Furnicar.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/furnicar. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·