Etymologically
Log in

păsărică

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word păsărică

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1648 New Testament, plural păsăreale More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Latin passer
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin passer
Italian passero
Romanian pasăre
Romanian păsărică

Forms

păsărică f (plural păsărici or păsărele)[1] The plural is păsărici or păsărele;[2][1] păsărele is also the plural of păsărea, which the DLR explains as the same word with a change of suffix.[2][1] An older spelling păserică appears in a 19th-century poem title, Fetița și păserica “the little girl and the little bird”.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a diminutive formed from Romanian pasăre + -ică.[3][2][4][1] Pasăre “bird” is passer (“sparrow”).[1] The DLR lists the forms păsărea, păserea and păsăreauă as the same diminutive with another suffix.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DLR's earliest quotation is the plural păsăreale “sparrows” in the New Testament of 1648: „Au nu doauă păsăreale să vând întru fileariu?” “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?”.[2] Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada (c. 1800–1812) speaks of all kinds of strange păsărele.[2] MDA2 dates the singular to 1848.[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides “small bird”, the word became a term of endearment for a little girl.[3][2] The idiom a avea (o) păsărică (sau păsărele) la cap “to have a bird in one's head” means “to be crazy, eccentric”.[3][2][5] Regionally it names particular birds, the sparrow and the wagtail, a children's clapping game, and a bird-shaped bun baked for children in Transylvania and Bukovina.[3] In poker slang it is a pass, and as a euphemism it names the genitals of children; slang dictionaries give the sense “vulva”.[3][6][1]

Timeline

  • 1648 – the plural păsăreale “sparrows” in the New Testament.[2]
  • c. 1800-1812 – păsărele in Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada.[2]
  • 1848 – MDA2's first record of the singular.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small bird; birdie.[3][2][1]
  2. (figurative, familiar) A term of endearment for a (small, cheerful) girl.[3][2]
  3. (regional) The sparrow; also the white wagtail.[3]
  4. (regional) A bun shaped like a bird, made for children.[3]
  5. (euphemistic) The genitals, especially of children;[3][6][1] (slang) the vulva.[3][6][1]
  • pasăre
  • păsărea
  • păsăruică
  • păsăruță

Usage notes

A avea păsărele la cap “to have birds in one's head” means to be a little mad.[3][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. păsărică
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 308
  4. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 952
  5. ^ a b Breban, Vasile (1980), Dicționar al limbii române contemporane de uz curent, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
  6. ^ a b c Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu
Cite this entry

“Păsărică.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/p%C4%83s%C4%83ric%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·