maestru

Forms

maestru m (plural maeștri)^[1] MDA2 records the old plurals maestri and maestre.^[2] CADE gives maistru as a variant: „maistri în lingușiri” “masters of flattery”.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian maestro (“master”).^{[4][2][5][6][1]} CADE also names German Meister.^[3] Gabinschi calls it a European loan of Italian origin, also found in French, German and Russian.^[7]

The Italian word continues Latin magister (“master, teacher”).^[8][1] The Latin noun is formed on magis (“more”) with a comparative suffix, as the opposite of minister (“servant”).^[9][8]

Its doublets in Romanian are the inherited măiestru, the learned magistru, maistru from German and meșter from Hungarian.^[10][1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Klein's dictionary of 1801 has Maestru, glossed with Latin magister and Hungarian mester.^[12] Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to the Lexicon of Buda (1825), which sends the reader to măiestru.^[6][2][13]

Semantic evolution

Pontbriant (1862) glosses it as “master, teacher”.^[14] Tiktin notes the old use as a title of teachers of crafts, drawing, gymnastics and music, which DEX 2009 still records as a former title.^[6][4] The main sense became a person of outstanding achievement in an art or science, a model and head of a school: Odobescu calls Virgil Dante's maestru.^[5][2]

Official titles followed: maestru al sportului and maestru emerit al artei.^[2][15] In slang it can mean a lawyer or a waiter.^[16] Accountancy borrowed a separate neuter maestru “ledger”, from Italian libro maestro.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1801 – Maestru in Klein's dictionary.^[12]
• 1825 – the Lexicon of Buda.^[6][2]
• 1862 – “master, teacher” in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[14]
• 1896 – the neuter maestru “ledger” in a textbook of double-entry bookkeeping.^[2]
• 1931 – CADE lists the master in an art, the teacher and the ledger.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A master: a person of outstanding achievement in a field, seen as a model or the head of a school.^[4][2][1]
2. (dated) A title of teachers of drawing, music and similar subjects without an academic degree.^[4][1]
3. An expert who trains others, especially in music, dance or sport; a maestro.^[4][1]
4. A rank in some military, political or religious organisations: maestru de ceremonii “master of ceremonies”.^[4]
5. A foreman (= maistru).^[4]
6. (slang) A lawyer, or a waiter.^[16]

Word family

• maestră
• concert-maestru

Related words

• magistral
• magistru
• maistru
• măiestru
• meșter

Usage notes

The plural is maeștri, the feminine maestră.^[4] Concert-maestru is the leader of an orchestra, its first violin.^[4] The neuter maestru (plural maestre) was the bookkeeper's ledger, now out of use.^[5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1415
3. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. maestru
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 610
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. maestru
6. ^ 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. maestru
7. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 127
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. maestro
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 59
11. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 765
12. ^ a b 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. 393
13. ^ 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. 367
14. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 416
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 3
16. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. maestru