Etymology and origin of the Romanian word iarăși
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Compound
- First attested
- 1643 Varlaam's Cazania More words from the 17th century
- Ultimate origins
- Romanian iarăProto-Italic *sei,*ke
Etymology tree
From the same root
Pronunciation
- [ˈjarəʃʲ][1]
Forms
iarăși (adverb); also iarăș[2] Old texts also have iarășile: Dosoftei writes „Iarășile cu învățătura ighemonului fu pus gios” “and again by the governor's order he was laid down”.[2][3] Scriban notes árăși in Neculce's chronicle.[4]
Etymology
It is formed from Romanian iară (“again”) + și (“and, also”), the older form of iar “again” followed by the conjunction.[2][3][5][1] Ciorănescu treats the ending as a suffix ⟨-și⟩, as in cineși and totuși.[6]
The origin of that adverb is uncertain: MDA2 and Wiktionary call it unknown.[3][1] Ciorănescu, after Schuchardt, Meyer-Lübke, Pușcariu and the REW, thinks it seems to come from Vulgar Latin *era, comparing Romansh eir of the Engadine, Occitan er or era and Old French ar, all with the same sense.[6][7] The adverb also survives south of the Danube: Aromanian iar and Megleno-Romanian ară.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2 and the DA give the first record from Varlaam's Cazania of 1643: „De Dumenecă să postiia preste toată săptămâna până iarăși Dumenecăi” “from Sunday let them fast all week until Sunday again”.[3][2] The first sense is “again, once more”.[2]
Semantic evolution
Beside “again”, the adverb came to mean “likewise, also”, as in Eminescu's „Tu iarăși mă sărută” “you kiss me in turn”.[2][8] A third sense, “at the same time, on the other hand, still”, introduces a contrasting thought, as in Drăghici's „Dar, iarăși, trebuie să ne fie milă de dânsul” “but then again, we must pity him”.[2][3] Today DEX treats it as a synonym of iar, and Scriban called it rare beside the shorter form.[5][4]
Timeline
- 1643 – iarăși “again” in Varlaam's Cazania, the first record.[3][2]
- 1688 – thirteen occurrences in the Bucharest Bible.[9]
- 1801 – listed in Klein's dictionary as Iârafhi.[10]
- 1825 – Iarăși and Iarășile in the Lexicon de la Buda.[11]
Meanings
Adverb
- again, once more: A venit iarăși la noi.[3][8]
- likewise, also.[3][8]
- At the same time; on the other hand, nevertheless.[3][2]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. iarăși
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1098
- ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 611
- ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 484
- ^ a b c 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. iar
- ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2886
- ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 479
- ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Jeremiah 36:15
- ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 372
- ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 269
Cite this entry
“Iarăși.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/iar%C4%83%C8%99i. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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