jurător

Forms

jurător m (plural jurători)^[1] Moldavian texts spell it giurător: „Să-și caute țăranul giurători să se îndrepteze” “let the peasant look for oath-helpers to clear himself” (Neculce).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian jura + -ător.^[4][5][2][1] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of jura.^[6] Wiktionary compares Latin iūrātor (“official who took the sworn returns of taxpayers”), found in Plautus and Livy.^[1][7] Candrea and Densusianu instead derive it from Latin iūrātōrius, which is recorded only as an adjective in the Code of Justinian.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1629, in a document published in the Documenta Romaniae Historica.^[2] The word was the term for the witnesses who swore alongside a party in a lawsuit; a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of c. 1660–1670 already has it.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

In the old law the jurători were neighbours called to confirm on oath how far a person's estate reached, or to testify in other cases; the chroniclers Neculce and Nicolae Costin mention them.^[3][2] Scriban, quoting a 1920 study, notes that such neighbours were also called adeveritori and that their verdict was final.^[10] The folk phrase a jura cu jurători “to swear with oath-helpers” survives in folk songs collected by Jarník and Bârseanu.^[11] In the general sense “one who swears” it is in Barcianu's dictionary, with jurător strâmb “perjurer”.^[12][5]

Timeline

• 1629 – the first record, in a document.^[2]
• c. 1660–1670 – jurător in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[9]
• 1688 – jurători in the Bucharest Bible.^[13]
• 1886 – jurător strâmb “perjurer” in Barcianu's dictionary.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) A witness who swears before a court; an oath-helper.^[4][11][1]
2. A person who swears an oath; one who swears by anything.^[5][14]
3. (obsolete) jurător strâmb: a perjurer, sperjur.^[5][12]

Related words

• jurat
• jura
• jurământ

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. jurătór
3. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. jurător
4. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 569
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1295
6. ^ 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. jura
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. jurător
9. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. jurător
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 721
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, 711
12. ^ a b c Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 335
13. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Faptele Apostolilor 19:13
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 352