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porumbar

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word porumbar

porumbar1 blackthorn

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1898 Marian's Sărbătorile la români
Ultimate origin
Latin palumba
Etymology tree of porumbar1
inherited borrowed derived
Romanian porumbă
Romanian porumbar

Pronunciation

  • /po.rum.ˈbar/[1]

Forms

porumbar m (plural porumbari)[1]

Etymology

The word for the blackthorn is formed from Romanian porumbă + -ar, from the name of its fruit, the sloe.[2][3][4] DEX takes porumbă “sloe” as from Latin palumba, and MDA2 as *polumba.[2][3] Ciorănescu lists the shrub among the senses of porumb and of the derivative of that noun.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is Marian's ethnographic study Sărbătorile la români (1898).[3]

Semantic evolution

Folk botany knows the shrub under many names, among them porumbel, scorombar, spin and mărăcine.[6][3] In Maramureș its fruit and roots were used in folk medicine to strengthen the teeth and against stitches and diarrhoea.[4]

Timeline

  • 1898 – Marian's Sărbătorile la români, the first record.[3]
  • 1929 – Panțu's plant dictionary, with the regional names of the shrub.[6]
  • 1929 – Șăineanu: a very thorny, much-branched shrub.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The blackthorn or sloe (Prunus spinosa), a wild thorny shrub of the rose family with white flowers and round, dark blue-black, sour fruit.[2][3][1]

porumbar2 dovecote, corn crib

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1703
Ultimate origin
Latin palumbus
Etymology tree of porumbar2
inherited borrowed derived
Romanian porumb
Romanian porumbar

Pronunciation

  • /po.rum.ˈbar/[1]

Forms

porumbar n (plural porumbare)[1]

Etymology

The word for the dovecote is formed from Romanian porumb + -ar according to DEX, MDA2, NODEX and Tiktin.[2][3][8][9] Pușcariu derived it from Vulgar Latin *palumbārium, comparing Spanish palomar and Portuguese pombal.[10] Candrea–Densusianu reconstruct the same Latin form, modelled on columbārium (“dovecote”), with its vowels reshaped after the Romanian noun.[11] Ciorănescu says it may continue a word of Medieval Latin recorded by Du Cange directly.[5] Wiktionary gives both explanations.[1] The Romanian noun for the pigeon continues palumbus (“wood pigeon”).[5] The word is matched by Aromanian pãrumbar.[12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1703, for a pigeon keeper.[9] MDA2's first record is the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825.[3]

Semantic evolution

The neuter noun is a dovecote.[2] After the maize plant, also called porumb, it became a crib of wicker or slats where maize cobs are dried and stored.[2][9] Scriban knew this sense from Muntenia.[13] As a masculine noun it means a person who breeds or sells pigeons, and once a soldier who looked after carrier pigeons.[3][13] In Bukovina it names the goshawk, a bird that hunts pigeons;[9][2] Tiktin thinks this name is certainly learned, after the zoological name.[9][2] Latin already had palumbārius for a hawk that attacks doves.[14]

Timeline

  • 1703 – the first record Tiktin gives, for a pigeon keeper.[9]
  • 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda.[3]
  • 1886 – Barcianu: a dovecote, a maize store, and a pigeon dealer.[15]
  • 1939 – Scriban: a soldier in charge of carrier pigeons, and a maize crib in Muntenia.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (neuter) A dovecote, a shelter for pigeons.[2][8][1]
  2. (neuter) A corn crib: a structure of wicker or slats in which maize cobs are dried and kept.[2][8]
  3. (masculine, rare) A person who breeds or sells pigeons.[3][15]
  4. (masculine, regional) The goshawk (Accipiter gentilis).[3][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 853
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 477
  4. ^ a b Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. porumbar
  5. ^ a b c 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. porumb
  6. ^ a b Panțu, Zach. C. (1929), Plantele cunoscute de poporul român. Vocabular botanic cuprinzând numirile române, franceze, germane și științifice, 2nd ed., București: Editura Casei Școalelor, p. 234
  7. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 498
  8. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. porumbar
  9. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. porumbar
  10. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 119
  11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. porumbar
  12. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 807
  13. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1021
  14. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  15. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 490

Related etymologies

  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
  • sta · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Porumbar.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/porumbar. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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