părere

Forms

părere f (plural păreri)^[1] Old texts write păreare: „cu păreare că” “pretending that”, of the sailors who let the boat down into the sea in the Codicele Voronețean.^[2] The genitive-dative is părerii, rarely părerei.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is the long infinitive of părea (“to seem”), formed from Romanian părea + -re and used as a noun.^[3][4][2][1] The verb is from Latin pāreō (“to appear”).^[4][3][1] Italian parere (“opinion”) is a parallel noun made from the infinitive of the same Latin verb.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are from the 16th century and mean “appearance, show”: the Codicele Voronețean has cu păreare că “under the pretext that”, where the New Testament of 1648 writes supt cumpăt and the Bible of 1688 cu prilej.^[2] Tiktin cites the Psaltirea Scheiană (Psalm 100:4), and MDA2 dates its first record to Coresi's homiliary of 1581.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

From “the way something looks” the word came to mean a false impression, an illusion: Coresi speaks of spending the days of our life cu păreare “in illusion”, and Miron Costin of things that are visuri și părere “dreams and illusion”.^[2][3] A concrete sense “apparition, ghost” and o părere de “a trace of” grew from it.^[6][3] The sense “opinion, view”, now the main one, came with phrases such as a fi de părere “to think” and a-și da cu părerea “to give one's opinion”.^[6][5] Părere de bine “gladness” and părere de rău “regret” match the verb's phrases îi părea bine “to be glad” and îi părea rău “to be sorry”.^[6][3][1]

Timeline

• c. 1563-1583 – cu păreare că “under the pretext that” in the Codicele Voronețean.^[2]
• c. 1573-1578 – in the Psaltirea Scheiană, Psalm 100:4.^[5]
• 1581 – cu păreare “in illusion” in Coresi's homiliary.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An opinion, a view or belief: a fi de părere “to think”, a fi de aceeași părere “to agree”;^[6][3] părere de bine “gladness”, părere de rău “regret”.^[6][3]
2. An illusion, a false impression;^[6][3] într-o părere “at random, half-heartedly”.^[6][3]
3. An apparition, a ghost;^[6][3] o părere de “a trace of, a hint of”: o părere de zâmbet.^[6][3]
4. (dated) Appearance, look;^[3][2] la părere “seemingly, at first sight”.^[3][2]

Related words

• părea
• parcă
• părelnic
• apărea
• Latin pāreō

Usage notes

The proverb câte capete, atâtea păreri “as many heads, so many opinions” renders Latin quot capita, tot sensus.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. părere
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 305
4. ^ a b 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. părea
5. ^ 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. părere
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 789