păcure

Forms

păcure f (plural păcure)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pecus (“cattle, livestock”), from Proto-Indo-European *péḱ-os (“livestock”).^[2][3][1] Wiktionary takes it from the plural of an older variant păc (plural pecuri), which the DLR records as a doubtful form.^[1][3] Cihac compared it with Italian pecora “sheep”, which Nocentini explains as the Latin neuter plural taken as a feminine singular.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Cihac's dictionary of 1870, which gives it as a plural noun meaning cattle.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The DLR and MDA2 give it as a dated and regional plural noun, a flock of sheep or a herd of cattle.^[2][3][6]

Timeline

• 1870 – Cihac records păcure “cattle”.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated, regional) A flock of sheep; sheep.^[2][3][1]
2. (dated, regional) A herd of cattle; cattle.^[2][6]

Related words

• păcurar

Usage notes

It is used in the plural.^[3] It is not the same word as păcură “crude oil”, whose rare plural is also păcure.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 291
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. păcure
4. ^ a b c Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 199
5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. pècora
6. ^ a b Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. păcure
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 290