lemnar

Forms

lemnar m (plural lemnari)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian lemn + -ar, according to DEX, MDA2, DLR and Ciorănescu.^[2][3][4][5] Tiktin, Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the DA and the REW take the masculine noun from Latin lignārius (“wood dealer, woodworker”), and the DA and the REW take the neuter one, the block for chopping wood, from lignārium (“wood store”), the noun use of the same adjective.^{[6][7][8][9][5]} Scriban and Wiktionary give both views.^[10][1] The Latin words are derived from lignum (“wood”).^[1]

It has a match south of the Danube in Aromanian limnar “woodcutter, wood dealer”.^[11][12] Its Romance cognates include Italian legnaio, Spanish leñero and Portuguese lenheiro.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Mărgăritare of 1691, where the city of the rich has no carpenter, coppersmith or tailor: „nici lemnariu nici căldărariu nici croitoriu”.^[6] MDA2's first record is a document of before 1695 in Iorga's Studii și documente that names Cazan, the master of the carpenters, who is to be found at the court at all times.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The man who works wood is the oldest sense, and in many places it means the carpenter as opposed to the joiner; elsewhere it is the woodcarver or the maker of coffins.^[8][13][14] The woodcutter and the firewood dealer are further senses, the second now dated.^[3] The neuter noun, plural lemnare, names the block on which firewood is split, the corner of the yard where it is chopped and a chisel for hollowing wood.^[15][3] In Muntenia and Transylvania the word is also a regional name of a shield bug.^[3]

Timeline

• 1691 – lemnariu “carpenter” in the Mărgăritare, the first record.^[6]
• before 1695 – meșterul dă lemnari “the master of the carpenters” in a document.^[3][4]
• 1748 – Toader Berindei, lemnar domnesc “carpenter to the prince”.^[4]
• 1802 – new wheels to be given to the lemnari.^[4]
• 1870 – lemnar “carpenter; woodcutter” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A craftsman who works wood; a carpenter, joiner: lemnarul satului “the village carpenter”.^[2][3][1]
2. A woodcutter in the forest.^[3]
3. (dated) A dealer in firewood.^[3]
4. (neuter) A chopping block on which firewood is split.^[2][3]
5. (neuter) A chisel for hollowing out wood.^[2][3]

Word family

• lemnăreasă
• lemnărie

Related words

• lemn
• lemnos
• Aromanian limnar

Usage notes

The two genders have different plurals: lemnari for the craftsman, lemnare for the block and the chisel.^[2] The craftsman's wife is a lemnăreasă.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 585
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1345
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lemnar
5. ^ 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. lemn
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. lemnar
7. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
8. ^ a b 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. lemnar
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5032
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 738
11. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 630
12. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 107
13. ^ Rădulescu-Codin, C. (1901), O seamă de cuvinte din Muscel, Câmpulung, p. 46
14. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 746
16. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 28