gheura

Forms

gheura (third-person singular present gheurează, past participle gheurat), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2] Candrea and Densusianu, followed by the REW, the DA and Rosetti, consider it inherited from Latin glabrō (“to make smooth, strip of hair”), which is formed on glaber (“smooth, hairless”);^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Ciorănescu finds the development of the sense unclear.^{[2][3][4][5][1]}

Ciorănescu holds it to be the same word as dezgheura “to take the kernel out of a nut”, which has been derived from Vulgar Latin *disgluberō (Candrea, Scriban) or from *disglabrō (Densusianu, Candrea–Densusianu, Rosetti).^[2] Wiktionary connects the first with Latin glubō (“to peel”).^[1] He thinks a link with gheară “claw” more likely, compare ghera “to scratch”, since writers sometimes confuse the forms.^[2] MDA2 gives no etymology and only compares the verb for shelling nuts.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DA date the first record to 1910, in the Noua revistă română, where it means stripping the grains off maize cobs.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

It has stayed a regional farming word: the DA records it in Banat and Mehedinți, CADE in Banat and Oltenia, and the DA compares the usual phrase for threshing maize.^[4][7] MDA2 marks it as rarely used, and Wiktionary as rare and regional.^[6][1] Costin's Banat glossary lists it as well.^[8]

Timeline

• 1910 – the first record, in the Noua revistă română.^[6][4]
• 1926–1934 – listed in Costin's Banat glossary.^[8]
• 1931 – CADE records it in Banat and Oltenia and derives it from Latin.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (regional, rare) to shell maize, stripping the grains off the cob.^[6][4][9][1]

Related words

• dezgheura

Usage notes

MDA2 and the DA give the verb under the form gheora, with gheura as a variant, and the DA has the pronunciation with separate e and o.^[6][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. gheura
3. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3770
4. ^ 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. gheora
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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, 989
7. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. gheora
8. ^ a b Costin, Lucian (1926–1934), Graiul bănățean, 2 vols., Timișoara / Turnu-Severin, p. 97
9. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. gheora