găinar

Forms

găinar m (plural găinari)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian găină + -ar, with the agent suffix.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Candrea and Densusianu and Șăineanu derive it instead from Latin gallīnārius (“poultry keeper”), whose sound they think was reshaped after the Romanian word for hen;^[6][7] Pascu does the same for Aromanian gãljinar.^[8][6][7] Their Romance cognates are Italian gallinaio, Catalan galliner and Spanish gallinero.^[8]

găină itself is from Latin gallīna (“hen”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the place name Găinari, from 1482–1496.^[5] MDA2's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary (c. 1650–1700), for a keeper of hens.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The first senses are a seller and a keeper of poultry.^[3][5] Then came the hen thief and by extension the petty thief, a pilferer.^[4][2] The DA compares Friulian galinar and Bulgarian kokoškar with the same sense.^[4] Formerly it was a mocking name for gendarmes and policemen who took small bribes, and it now also means someone in small illicit trade.^[10][3][2]

In Bucovina and Maramureș it is also a hawk, the goshawk that takes hens, and in Maramureș a hen-house.^[4][11] The feminine găinăreasă is a woman who looks after the poultry.^[5][4]

Timeline

• 1482-1496 – the place name Găinari.^[5]
• c. 1650-1700 – “keeper of hens” in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A seller of hens, or of live poultry in general.^[2][1]
2. (colloquial) A hen thief; more generally a petty thief, a pilferer (borfaș).^[2][1]
3. (colloquial) Someone who deals in small illicit business.^[2][12]
4. (regional) A kind of hawk, the goshawk.^[3][4]

Related words

• găină
• găinaț
• Aromanian gãljinar

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 428
3. ^ 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, 968
4. ^ 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. găinar
5. ^ 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. găinar
6. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 265
7. ^ a b 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, 92
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. găinar
9. ^ 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. găină
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 361
11. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. găinár
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. găinar