gustar

Forms

gustar m (singular only)^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian gust (“August”) + -ar, from a popular variant of the month name agust.^[2][3][4] That name continues Vulgar Latin agustus, the reduced popular form of Augustus, the name of the month.^[2][5]

Ciorănescu and the DA explain the shape by folk etymology: the month name was associated with the verb a gusta “to taste”, as the time when the fruit of the harvest, above all the grapes, is tasted.^[5][6] Tiktin sees a remodelling of august after the other folk month names with the same suffix, such as florar and cireșar, helped by the same verb.^[7] The DA likewise says that the suffix is the one of the other popular month names.^[6] Wiktionary also allows a direct descent from Latin augustālis.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1881, in Jipescu, where a speaker recalls going somewhere „anu trecut, pân luna lu Gustar” “last year, around the month of August”.^[2][7] MDA2 gives Marian's Sărbătorile la romîni of 1898 as its first source.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word is a folk name of the month: dictionaries of the 1890s and 1930s already label it popular.^[8][9] Besides gustar, the folk calendar has gustea (Moldavia, 1894) and gustător for the same month.^[2][6] MDA2 also records the old regional sense “September”, which the DA traces to Hasdeu's questionnaire.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 1881 – luna lu Gustar “the month of August” in Jipescu, the first record.^[2][7]
• 1893–1895 – Damé's dictionary lists it as a popular word for August.^[8]
• 1894 – the sister derivative gustea “August”, in Moldavia.^[2]
• 1898 – gustar and gustea in Marian's study of Romanian feasts.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (popular) August, the eighth month of the year.^[3][4][1]
2. (regional, dated) September.^[4]

Related words

• agust
• august
• gustea
• gusta

Usage notes

The word belongs to the series of folk month names in -ar, beside florar and cireșar; the standard name is august.^[7][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. agust
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 455
4. ^ 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, 1033
5. ^ 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. agust
6. ^ a b c d e 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. gust
7. ^ 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. gustar
8. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. gustar
9. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. gustar