număr

Forms

număr n (plural numere)^[1] MDA2 records the variants numer (older and regional), lumăr and numur (regional), and besides the plural numere an old plural numeruri.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin numerus (“number”).^{[3][2][4][1][5]} The verb număra “to count” may be a Romanian derivative of the noun or continue Latin numerō (“to count”) directly.^[3] The noun survives south of the Danube as Aromanian numir and Megleno-Romanian numir.^[6][7] Istro-Romanian lumer has its initial ⟨l⟩ from Croatian or Venetian forms.^[8] Romance cognates include French nombre and Catalan nombre, while Italian novero is the inherited form, beside the borrowed numero.^[3][5][1] Ciorănescu thinks Albanian numër could come from Romanian;^[3][1] Wiktionary takes it from Vulgar Latin.^[3][1]

The Latin noun comes from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to assign, allot”), the root of Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “I distribute”).^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Hurmuzaki Psalter of the early 16th century: „Spune-mi, Doamne, cumplitul mieu şi numărulu dzilelor mele” “tell me, Lord, my end and the number of my days”; another psalter has măsura “measure” in the same verse.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

The old sense was a count or quantity of things of one kind, as in Coresi's „mii de oameni... cît nu iaste puteare numărului” “thousands of people, more than could be counted”, and the phrase fără (de) număr “countless”.^[10][8] From it come the mathematical number, the grammatical category of singular and plural, a number that identifies one item in a series, such as a house number or a size, and hence an issue of a periodical.^[4][8] It also names an item in a show or concert.^[3][4]

Tiktin records the old parliamentary phrase a nu mai fi în număr “to lack a quorum” and the colloquial numărul unu “first-rate”, with Sadoveanu's „un bețiv numărul unu” “a first-rate drunkard”.^[8] The press compound număr-record “a record number” followed French nombre-record.^[11] Learned words of the same family, such as numeral, numeric and numerota, came from French.^[3]

Timeline

• early 16th century – „numărulu dzilelor mele” in the Hurmuzaki Psalter, the first record.^[10][2]
• 1581 – „cît nu iaste puteare numărului” in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură.^[10]
• 1688 – „24 la număr” “24 in number” in the Bucharest Bible.^[8]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda spells it Numẻru and derives it from Latin numerus.^[12]
• 1974 – număr-record in the press.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A number: the quantity of things of the same kind in a set; the result of a measurement; the sign or group of signs that expresses it.^[4][1]
2. An indefinite quantity; a crowd, a group: un număr de “a few”;^[4] la număr “in all”.^[4]
3. (grammar) The category that distinguishes one from several: singular and plural.^[4][3]
4. A figure or set of figures that identifies an item in a series, such as a house, a phone line or a size; the item that bears it.^[4]
5. An issue of a periodical.^[4][13]
6. An item in the programme of a concert, a variety show or a circus; a number in an opera.^[4][3]
7. (colloquial) numărul unu: first-rate, unrivalled.^[4][8]
8. (slang) Sexual intercourse.^[14]

Word family

• număra
• numărătoare
• numărător
• numărătură
• nenumărat

Related words

• numeros
• numeral
• numeric
• numerota
• Latin numerus

Usage notes

A separate număr is a variant of nume “name”.^[10][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 Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 174
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. număr
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 724
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5949
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 788
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 209
8. ^ 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. număr
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ 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. număr
11. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. număr
12. ^ 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. 452
13. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 434
14. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. număr