iepurar

Forms

iepurar m (plural iepurari)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian iepure (“hare”) + -ar.^[2][3][4][1] Iepure continues Latin lepus (“hare”).^[1] Wiktionary also allows a direct descent from leporārius, the Latin adjective “of a hare”, and names levrier “greyhound” as a doublet.^[1] Aromanian has iupurar of the same make.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Marian's Ornitologia poporană română of 1883, as a Bucovinian name for the golden eagle.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The name says that the bird lives mainly on hares.^[2][5] Folk names apply it to two eagles, Aquila fulva and the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos.^[3][4] In some regions it is a hound, and in the Bucharest area a peasant who worked in summer on the great estates and wore a cap of hare fur.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1883 – a name of eagles in Marian's ornithology.^[3][4]
• 1884–1885 – “hound” in the answers to Hasdeu's questionnaire.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), a bird of prey related to the vulture that feeds mostly on hares.^[2][1]
2. (regional) A hound.^[3][4]
3. (regional, Bucharest) A peasant who did summer work on large estates and wore a hare-fur cap.^[3]

Related words

• iepure
• levrier
• Aromanian iupurar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 488
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1106
4. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. iepurar
5. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 303