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săgetar

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word săgetar

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1703 More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Latin sagitta
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sagitta
Romanian săgeată
Romanian săgetar
From the same root
Latin sagittārius ← sagitta

Forms

săgetar m (plural săgetari)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian săgeată + -ar.[2][3][4] Tiktin calls it a modelling of Latin sagittārius (“archer”) on the native word for “arrow”.[5] Wiktionary sees a possible correspondence with the Latin word, which would make it a doublet of the learned sagitar.[1] Ciorănescu lists it with the variant săgetaș among the derivatives of the noun.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1703.[5] MDA2's first record is Iordache Golescu's manuscript dictionary of about 1832, where it names a maker of arrows.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Old dictionaries define it as a maker (and seller) of arrows and bows.[3][4] In 19th-century literature it means an archer: Bălcescu counts “lancers and archers” in an army, and Alecsandri's ballad praises Bogdan as a good archer.[3][5] A rare sense is “marksman”.[3][7]

Timeline

  • 1703 – first record according to Tiktin.[5]
  • c. 1832 – “arrow maker” in Iordache Golescu's dictionary.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) An archer, bowman.[2][1]
  2. (dated) A maker of arrows and bows.[4][3]
  3. (archaic, rare) A marksman.[4][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 978
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. săgetar
  4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 767
  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. săgetar
  6. ^ 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. săgeată
  7. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. săgetar
Cite this entry

“Săgetar.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/s%C4%83getar. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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