oară

oară¹ time, occasion

Pronunciation

• /ˈo̯arə/, [ˈwaɾə]^[1]

Forms

oară f (plural ori)^[1]

Etymology

The word for "time, occasion" is inherited from Latin hōra (“hour, time”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Latin took it from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “season, time”).^[1][6] It has the cognates Aromanian oarã and Megleno-Romanian oară.^[2][1] Its Romance cognates include Italian ora, French heure, Spanish hora and Portuguese hora.^[2] Philippide compared Albanian herë (“time”), which Wiktionary treats as an Albanian loan from the same Latin word.^[2][1]

Tiktin compares the use of ⟨hora⟩ for "time" in Old Italian and Old French, and of Old High German stunt and its Middle High German form.^[7] Ciorănescu derives the old adverb aoare from it, with adverbial ⟨a-⟩.^[2] The learned oră "hour" is a later borrowing of the same Latin word.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, of the early 16th century.^[4] There the plural ori is used to count.^[8] Old texts also use the singular for a moment in time: „Într-acea oară ce era închis în temniță Ioan” “at that time when John was shut in prison”, in Dosoftei.^[7][9]

Semantic evolution

The sense "hour" survives in Aromanian and in old and regional Daco-Romanian.^[7][2] A Maramureș notice of 1871 calls a meeting „la oara 3” "at three o'clock".^[10] In the standard language the word was specialized as "time, occasion": a doua oară "the second time", de trei ori "three times".^[3][7] In this use it formed adverbs such as uneori "sometimes", adeseori "often", bunăoară "for example" and odinioară "once".^[7][11]

In Transylvania, Banat, Maramureș and northern Moldavia a-și veni în ori means "to come to one's senses".^[2][12] The Lexicon of Buda already recorded the phrase in 1825.^[13]

Timeline

• early 16th century – the plural ori in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[4][8]
• 16th century – in the Codicele Voronețean (Acts 26:11).^[7]
• 1649 – ori translates Slavonic дважды “twice” in Mardarie's lexicon.^[14]
• 1688 – ori 244 times in the Bucharest Bible.^[15]
• 1801 – a-și veni în ori “to recover oneself” in Klein's dictionary.^[16]
• 1871 – la oara 3 “at three o'clock” in a Maramureș notice.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (in the singular, after an ordinal) A time, an occasion: Am fost acolo pentru prima oară.^[3][17][1]
2. (in the plural ori) Forms adverbial numerals, often with a multiplying sense: de două ori mai mare “twice as big”.^[3]
3. (old and regional) An hour.^[2][12]

Word family

• bunăoară
• odinioară
• uneori
• adeseori
• alteori
• arareori
• aoare

oară² poultry

Pronunciation

• /ˈo̯arə/, [ˈwaɾə]^[1]

Forms

oară f (plural oare)^[1]

Etymology

The word for "poultry" is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *ōvāria (“egg-layers”), from ōvum (“egg”).^{[2][3][4][9][1]} Candrea and Densusianu note that only ⟨ovarius⟩ is attested in Latin.^[18] They take the plural ⟨oare⟩ as the older form, with the singular remade from it.^[18] The REW prefers a Romanian derivative of ou "egg".^[19][2] Ciorănescu finds Giuglea's ⟨*avula⟩ less likely.^[2] He finds Tiktin's suggestion, the article ⟨o⟩ with āla (“wing”), even less so.^[2][20]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to 1806, in Șincai's farming manual for Romanian schools in Hungary.^[20][4] There poultry, especially hens, are fed on maize flour: „se hrănesc oarăle, mai cu samă găinile”.^[9]

Timeline

• 1806 – oarăle “the poultry” in Șincai's farming manual, the first record.^[20][4]
• 1825 – the Lexicon of Buda glosses it as domestic fowl.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, mostly plural) poultry, farmyard birds.^[3][9][1]
2. (regional) A wild animal.^[9][4]
3. (regional, Oltenia) A louse, or a worm.^[9]

Word family

• orătanie