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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word paria

paria1 pariah

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1821 Leon Asachi's translation of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
Borrowed from
French paria
Ultimate origin
Tamil பறையர்

Forms

paria m (invariable, plural paria)[1][2]

Etymology

The word for the outcast is borrowed from French paria,[3][2][4] and DEX and Marcu add Italian pària as a second model.[1][5] French took it through Portuguese paria, recorded in 1607, from Tamil, where the word properly meant “drummer”.[6] Its source is Tamil பறையர் (paṟaiyar), from பறை (paṟai, “drum”), after the hereditary task of beating the drum at festivals.[7][8] The French dictionary notes that the sense “member of the lowest caste” may come from Europeans confusing it with another Tamil word.[6] The Italian word was taken in 1820 from English pariah, the Anglo-Indian form.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to 1821, in Leon Asachi's translation of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's Bordeiul indienesc, printed at Iași.[3] The passage describes the caste: „Paria este o nelegiuită tagmă la India” “the pariahs are an unlawful caste in India”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a person outside the castes of India and without rights, and by extension the group such people form.[2][1] Costinescu in 1870 still explains it as the last caste of the Indians, which the others refuse to touch.[9] The figurative sense, a despised person or community denied every right, is common in 19th-century writers: Eminescu's narrator will pass through life „ca un exilat, ca un paria” “like an exile, like a pariah”.[10][2] Scriban gives lepers as an example of real pariahs.[11]

Timeline

  • 1821 – the Indian caste in Leon Asachi's translation of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, the first record.[3][2]
  • 1870 – defined in Costinescu's dictionary.[9]
  • 19th century – the figurative “despised person” in Eminescu and Macedonski.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (in India, in the Brahmins' view) A pariah: a person outside the castes and without any rights, and by extension the group such people form.[1][3]
  2. (figurative) A despised outcast, a person or community denied every right.[1][2]

paria2 bet

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1848
Borrowed from
French parier
Ultimate origin
Latin pār
Etymology tree of paria2
inherited borrowed derived
French parier
Romanian paria

Pronunciation

Forms

paria (present pariez, third person pariază; past participle pariat), first conjugation[12][1][7]

Etymology

The word for betting is borrowed from French parier.[1][13][3][2][7] The French verb was first spelled ⟨pariier⟩ (1313), remade after Latin pariō (“to make equal”) from pār (“equal”), and took the sense “to bet” in the 16th century.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the verb to 1848, with the sense “to bet”.[13] MDA2's first record is Alecsandri's comedies: „Du-te, colo, lângă masă și pariază sume mari” “go over there by the table and bet big sums”.[3][10]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant agreeing that whoever is proved wrong pays the other, which led to the sense of staking money in games of chance, above all at horse races.[3][1] The DLRLC still glosses it with the older native expressions a face prinsoare and a pune rămășag.[10]

Timeline

  • 1848 – “to bet”, the first record.[13]
  • 19th century – in Alecsandri's comedies.[3][10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive and transitive) To bet, to wager: to make a bet, usually on a sum of money: Pariez că mâine plouă. “I bet it rains tomorrow.”[1][7]
  2. To take part in games of chance, especially horse races, by staking money.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 776
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. paria
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 271
  4. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. paria
  5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. paria
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 249
  10. ^ a b c d e Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 325
  11. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 935
  12. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. paria
  13. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. paria

Related etymologies

  • cap · also from French
  • dura · also from French
  • pur · also from French
  • pană · also from French
  • pat · also from French
  • masă · also from French
  • lac · also from French
  • primar · also from French
Cite this entry

“Paria.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/paria. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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