pătrare

Forms

pătrare f (plural pătrare or pătrări)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian patru (“four”) + -are, from the numeral.^[2][3] DLRM and Scriban take it from pătrar (“quarter”), itself formed on the numeral.^[4][5][6] Wiktionary gives a second view: a Latin *quartāria, from quartārius (“a quarter of a measure”).^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document of before 1706 printed by Iorga: „Li-am făcut bine cu doauă pătrări de săcară” “I helped them with two measures of rye”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a dry measure for grain, which varies by region from a quarter of a baniță to two banițe, the vessel that holds it, and the amount of grain or liquid it holds.^[2][3] Tiktin records it in Bukovina as a measure of about 36 litres.^[8] Dialect material notes that two pătrări make a litră.^[3] Regionally it also means a large piece of something, and de-o pătrare means “four years old”, of a horse.^[3][2]

Timeline

• before 1706 – pătrări “measures” of rye in a document, the first record.^[2][3]
• 1776 – pătrări de grăunțe “measures of grain” in the Uricariul.^[3]
• 1928 – Sadoveanu's o pătrare de mămăligă “a quarter of a polenta”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated or regional) A dry measure for grain, from a quarter of a baniță to two banițe.^[2][3][1]
2. A vessel of this capacity; the amount of grain or liquid it holds.^[2][3]
3. (regional) A quarter; compare pătrar.^[2][5]
4. (regional) A large piece of something.^[2][3]

Related words

• patru

Usage notes

The plural is pătrare, or pătrări.^[1][2] The regional phrase de-o pătrare means “four years old”.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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, 313
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. pătrare
4. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 598
5. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 954
6. ^ DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 791
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. pătrar 2