onoare

Forms

onoare f (plural onoruri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin honor (“honour”), French honneur and Italian onore.^[2][3][4][1] Marcu and Maneca give the Latin word and compare the French and Italian ones.^[5] Gabinschi notes that it comes from the same sources as onor but was fitted to the old nouns in -oare.^[6] The Latin noun, older honōs, is of unknown origin.^[1][7] The French word continues Old French onor, refashioned on the Latin spelling.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1800, in Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada;^[4][2] MDA2 cites the poem from its 1953 edition.^[4][2] DLR quotes it there in the form onor, of someone „neavînd [simțire] de onor și slavă” “having no sense of honour and glory”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Both forms were used in the 19th century: Asachi and Negruzzi wrote onor, Filimon and Ghica onoare.^[3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 glossed it as glory, esteem, respect, virtue, probity and chastity, and gave the native cinste as its equivalent.^[10] Damé still referred his readers to cinste.^[11] The plural onoruri names honours, high offices and marks of respect, as in onoruri funebre “funeral honours”.^[12][13] Many set phrases were modelled on French ones: câmp de onoare “field of honour”, doamnă de onoare “lady-in-waiting”, cavaler de onoare “groomsman”.^[13][14]

Timeline

• c. 1800 – onor and onoare in Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada, the first record.^[4][3]
• 1848 – defined in Negulici's dictionary, with cinste as its equivalent.^[10]
• 1886 – glossed with German die Ehre by Barcianu.^[15]
• 1931 – câmp de onoare, damă de onoare and onoruri funebre in the CADE.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. Moral integrity, probity, uprightness; dignity;^[16][2] de onoare “honest, trustworthy”;^[16][2] pe cuvântul meu de onoare “on my word of honour”.^[16][2]
2. Good reputation, prestige; pride;^[16][2] a face onoare cuiva “to do someone credit”.^[16][2]
3. High esteem, respect;^[16][2] gardă de onoare “guard of honour”.^[16][2]
4. A favour or privilege.^[5]
5. (of women) chastity.^[5]
6. (plural onoruri) Honours, distinctions, high offices; marks of respect.^[16][12]

Related words

• onora
• onor

Usage notes

The variant onor (neuter, plural onoruri) survives in set phrases such as câmp de onor “field of honour”.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 212
3. ^ 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. onoare
4. ^ 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. onoare
5. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. onoare
6. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 134
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. onore
10. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. onoare
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. onoare
12. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 444
13. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. onoare
14. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 901
15. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 442
16. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 743