sacru

Forms

sacru m or n (feminine singular sacră, masculine plural sacri, feminine/neuter plural sacre)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sacer (“sacred”) (neuter sacrum), a learned word of the 19th century, perhaps also borrowed from Italian sacro.^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu, MDA2 and the DLR give the Latin word alone;^[2][5][6][7] DEX, Tiktin, Wiktionary and the Dicționar de neologisme add the Italian.^[2][5][6][7]

The Latin word is recorded on the archaic Forum inscription as ⟨sakros⟩ and goes back to Proto-Italic *sakros and Proto-Indo-European *sh₂krós, from *seh₂k- (“to sanctify, make a treaty”).^[8][1] It meant what is set apart and may not be touched, hence both “holy” and “accursed”.^[9] Its Romanian relatives include the inherited sânt (from sanctus) and the learned sacrifica, sacrilegiu, sacrosant and consacra.^[9][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Gheorghe Șincai's chronicle (about 1812), where the word is also used as a noun.^[4] MDA2 and the DLR start with Heliade-Rădulescu's “sacrele vestminte” “the sacred vestments” of a priest.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense came first: books, temples, rites and vessels of a cult, cărțile sacre “the holy books”, the istorie sacră of the Creation in a periodical of 1859.^[6][10] Eminescu wrote of a man leaving templul sacru.^[6]

From “holy” the word passed to “inviolable, not to be touched” (the person of a Roman citizen was sacră) and “deeply venerated, dear”, as in Alecsandri's “a sacred guest”.^[11][12] Foc sacru was the fire kept burning on the altars of the gods and, figuratively, creative enthusiasm, vocation or genius.^[5][13] Monstru sacru is a great figure, especially in the arts.^[5] As a noun sacrul is the sacred as opposed to the profane.^[7][13]

Timeline

• c. 1812 – first record, in Șincai's chronicle.^[4]
• 1859 – istorie sacră “sacred history” in the periodical Isis.^[6]
• 1862 – Pontbriant glosses it “sacred, holy; respectable, inviolable”.^[14]
• 1870 – cărțile sacre “the Old and New Testament” in Costinescu.^[10]
• 1929 – foc sacru “enthusiasm, genius” and the noun “the sacred”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of religion; belonging to or concerning a religion or its worship; sacred, holy: muzică sacră.^[3][5]
2. In foc sacru: vocation, talent, creative enthusiasm.^[3][15]
3. (figurative) Inspiring veneration; very dear or precious: o datorie sacră.^[3][5]
4. inviolable, not to be touched or harmed.^[5][11]

Noun

1. The sacred: what lies beyond the human and the physical world, as opposed to the profane.^[7][5]

Related words

• sacrum
• sânt
• sacrament
• sacrifica
• sacrilegiu
• sacrosant
• consacra
• Latin sacer

Usage notes

DEX has a second headword sacru (sacru²), a neuter noun, which it refers to sacrum, the bone at the base of the spine;^[3][5][2] Ciorănescu lists it as osul sacru “the sacral bone”.^[3][5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. sacru
3. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 971
4. ^ 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. sácru
5. ^ 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, 744
6. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sacru
7. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sacru
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. sacer
9. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 81–82
10. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 458
11. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1146
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 3
13. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 558
14. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 644
15. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. sacru