mir

mir¹ world, laity

Etymology tree of mir¹

inherited borrowed derived

Old Church Slavonic миръ (mirŭ)

Romanian mir

Forms

mir n (singular only; now mostly in the phrase de mir)^[1][2]

Etymology

The word for the world, now kept only in a phrase meaning “secular”, is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic миръ (mirŭ, “world; peace”), the source DER, Tiktin, DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give.^{[3][4][1][2][5]} The Old Church Slavonic word rendered both Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “world”) and εἰρήνη (eirḗnē, “peace”).^[6] It continues Proto-Slavic *mirъ (“peace, world”), whose Baltic relatives include Latvian miêrs (“peace”);^[7][6] Vasmer also compares Albanian mirë (“good”).^[7][6] Cihac set the Romanian word beside Russian мир (mir) and Polish mir.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Nicolae Costin's chronicle of about 1710: „Monastirea lui Danco, carea a fost mainte beserică de mir” “the monastery of Danco, which had earlier been a secular church”.^[4][5] MDA2 cites the same passage with the year 1601, which comes from the chronicle's title, “from the creation of the world to 1601”, not from the date of the text.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the word meant “world”: the Alexandria has lumea mirului “the inhabited world”.^[4] It survives in the phrase de mir, said of clergy who are not monks and of churches that do not depend on a monastery: preot de mir “secular priest”, clerul de mir “the secular clergy”.^[4][2] Creangă writes of popii de mir, and an act of 1826 orders preoți de mir to replace monastic abbots.^[5] Mirean “layman”, borrowed from Slavonic, is recorded earlier, in Coresi's homilies of 1581.^[2][9][3]

Timeline

• c. 1710 – beserică de mir “secular church” in Nicolae Costin's chronicle, the first record.^[4][5]
• late 18th century – preoți de mir in a chronicle.^[5]
• 1826 – preoți de mir in an act printed in the Uricariul.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) The world.^[4][10]
2. (in the phrase de mir) secular, lay: of clergy, not monastic; of a church, not belonging to a monastery: un preot de mir.^[1][2]

Word family

• mirean
• mirenesc
• mirenie

mir² chrism

Forms

mir n (plural miruri)^[11]

Etymology

The word for the holy oil is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic мѵро (müro, “fragrant oil, myrrh”), the source DEX, MDA2, Tiktin, Wiktionary and the DLR give.^{[1][2][4][11][5]} DER takes it from Modern Greek μύρον (mýron), partly through Slavonic, after Roesler and Murnu.^[3] The Slavonic word is itself from Ancient Greek μύρον (múron, “sweet oil, unguent, perfume”).^[6][12] Beekes calls the Greek word a culture word, perhaps a loan.^[13]

The Aromanian cognate is mir “holy chrism”, which Pascu takes from Greek.^[14][15][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is mirul in Psalm 132:2 of the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, from the early 16th century, in the sense “fragrant ointment”; the Psaltirea Scheiană has the verse as „Ca mirulu în capu ce deștinge în barbă” “like the ointment on the head that runs down onto the beard”.^[16][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a perfumed oil used to anoint the body or embalm the dead, as in the Gospel accounts of Christ's anointing; the Church sense, the consecrated oil of the sacraments, is attested from the 16th century.^[5][2] From it the word also names the sacrament of chrismation and, more widely, a consecration to high office.^[2] Because the priest anoints the forehead, mir came to mean the forehead itself in familiar speech: a lovi la mir “to strike on the forehead”, a-i lua cuiva mirul “to kill someone”, as in Ispirescu's tales.^[3][4][17] Ion Ghica recalls that at the anointing the native boyars had to let the Phanar's cooks pass before them.^[4] Its family came largely from Slavonic and Greek too: DER takes mirui “to anoint with chrism” and mironosiță “myrrh-bearing woman” from Slavonic, and mirodenie “spice” from Greek and Slavonic.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – mirul in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, Psalm 132:2, the first record.^[16]
• c. 1573-1578 – miruri and mirurile in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[18][2]
• 1642 – „nește mir de mult preț” “some very costly ointment”.^[5]
• 1648 – „mirosala mirului” “the scent of the ointment” in the New Testament of Bălgrad.^[5]
• 1649 – Mardarie's lexicon glosses Slavonic мѵро with mirul.^[19]
• 1688 – mir mirositoriu “fragrant ointment” in the Bucharest Bible.^[20][5]
• 1716 – mirul “the chrism” given by a bishop, in a Moldavian document.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. chrism: the fragrant consecrated oil used in Christian rites.^[1][2][11]
2. (historical) A perfumed oily substance once used to anoint the body or embalm the dead.^[2][5]
3. The sacrament of chrismation, anointing with holy oil.^[2]
4. (familiar, in phrases) The forehead: a lovi pe cineva la mir “to strike someone on the forehead (fatally)”;^[1][2] “to destroy”;^[1][2] a-i lua cuiva mirul “to kill someone”.^[1][2]

Word family

• mirui
• mironosiță
• mirodenie