ochelari

Forms

ochelari m pl (plural only)^[1]

Etymology

The DEX, the DLR and Wiktionary take it as formed from Romanian ochi (“eye”), modelled on Latin oculāris (“of the eyes”); the MDA2 compares the same Latin word, and NODEX gives only that noun.^{[2][3][1][4][5]} Tiktin derived it indirectly from oculārius (“of the eyes”), shaped after the noun for “eye”, and compared Polish okulary (“spectacles”) and Italian occhiali.^[6] Scriban and CADE took it from the Polish word, itself from the Latin; Șăineanu from the Latin through a Russian or Polish intermediary.^[7][8][9]

Ciorănescu calls the origin doubtful and thinks it is probably the Italian word with the agent suffix -ar.^[10] He finds the other proposals unconvincing: Körting's Latin adjective, Densusianu's Polish noun crossed with the Romanian noun, and Capidan's Serbo-Croatian okelar, cited in the REW.^[10] Drăganu named a Transylvanian Saxon word as the source, but Ciorănescu takes the Saxon word to come from Romanian.^[10] The Italian word is the plural of occhiale, formed on occhio (“eye”).^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document of 1754 that lists „1 păr(eche) de ocălar(i)” “one pair of spectacles”, under the old form ocălari.^[3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Old and regional forms include ochilari, ocălari, ochiolari and ocolari, and a rare singular ochelar or ochelariu.^[4] Klein's dictionary of 1801 has ocheláriu.^[12] A text of 1823 tells of the marks the tears had left beside the glasses a man always wore on his nose, and Negruzzi and Alecsandri used the word in its modern sense.^[3]

By extension it names the leather blinkers on a horse's bridle, a sense already in Tiktin and Damé, and the phrase a avea ochelari de cal “to have horse's blinkers” is said of narrow-minded people.^[6][13][2] Regional senses include a metal piece with two rings at the end of a cart's pole, and in slang the word means the eyes.^[4] Regional synonyms are ocheri, ocheți, ochelarăși, oglinde and ochi de glajă.^[3]

Timeline

• 1754 – ocălari “spectacles” in a document, the first record.^[4][3]
• 1801 – ocheláriu in Klein's dictionary.^[12]
• 1823 – the glasses a man always wore on his nose.^[3]
• 1893 – “spectacles” and “blinkers” in Damé.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. glasses, spectacles: two lenses in a frame worn in front of the eyes to correct sight; goggles that protect the eyes from dust or strong light: ochelari de soare “sunglasses”.^[2][1][14]
2. (by extension) blinkers: two pieces of leather on a horse's bridle that stop it looking sideways;^[2][4] a avea ochelari de cal “to be narrow-minded”.^[2][4]
3. (regional) A metal piece with two side rings at the end of a cart's pole, to which the breeching is tied.^[4]
4. (slang) The eyes.^[4]

Word family

• ochelarist
• ochelariță
• chelărea

Related words

• ochi
• Italian occhiali
• Polish okulary

Usage notes

The word is a plural noun with no singular in modern use.^[2][1] Ochelariță (also chelărea), the plant Biscutella laevigata, is named after the shape of its fruit.^[10][4] Slang synonyms include biciclete and parbriz.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 732
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ochelari
4. ^ 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. 2, 190
5. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. ochelari
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. ochelari
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 889
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. ochelari
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 439
10. ^ a b c d 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. ochelari
11. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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. 408
13. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. ochelari
14. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 246
15. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. ochelari