halat

Forms

halat n (plural halate)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian халат (xalát, “dressing gown”) or Bulgarian халат (halat) according to DEX and Wiktionary.^[2][1][3] DER, MDA2, the DA and Scriban derive it instead from a Turkish form they spell ⟨halyat⟩, ⟨haljat⟩ or ⟨hal'at⟩, and Tiktin compares the Turkish word too.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} All name the Russian word beside the Turkish one.^[4][5][6]

Șăineanu traces the Turkish word to Arabic ⟨hil'at⟩, a robe of honour given by a ruler; in Russian it became the house gown of merchants, and in Polish and Ruthenian a night gown.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1738, with the sense “house gown, dressing gown”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a long, loose garment worn at home, chiefly by men, as in Caragiale's Leonida e în halat, în papuci și cu scufia de noapte “Leonida is in his dressing gown, in slippers and his nightcap”.^[8][6][10] Scriban also describes the long black caftan worn by the Jews of Poland and Moldavia.^[7] In the 20th century it came to mean a work coat, above all the white coat of doctors and nurses, and halat de baie a bathrobe.^[2][11][5]

Timeline

• 1738 – first record, “house gown”.^[8]
• 1870 – Costinescu glosses it as a night garment or comfortable house gown for men.^[12]
• 20th century – the white work coat of medical staff.^[11][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long overall or work coat of cloth, worn for hygiene or to protect one's clothes, especially the white coat of doctors.^[2][5]
2. A long, loose, comfortable garment worn at home; a dressing gown.^[2] Halat de baie: a bathrobe.^[2]
3. A long, wide garment worn in the East; a caftan.^[2][3]

Usage notes

Two regional words are spelled halat, both plural halaturi.^[4][5] One, “tool, implement, gear” (Moldavia, Bukovina, Banat), is from Turkish ⟨alat⟩, the plural of an Arabic word for “tool”;^[13][14] Aromanian has hălate and Bulgarian and Serbian alat.^{[6][4][13][14]} The other, “thick rope for mooring boats” and “chain that stops a windmill” (Muntenia, Oltenian alat), is from Turkish halat “rope”.^[6][4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c 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. 457
3. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. halat
4. ^ 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. halat
5. ^ 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, 1038
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. halát
7. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 586
8. ^ 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. halát
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1900), Influența orientală asupra limbei și culturei române, vol. I: Introducerea; vol. II.1: Vorbele populare; vol. II.2: Vorbele istorice, literare, Indice, București: Socec, p. II/1, 199
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 288
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 437
12. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 510
13. ^ a b Tietze, Andreas (2002–2018), Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lugatı, Istanbul: Simurg; Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, p. 1, 331
14. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 547