sertar

Forms

sertar n (plural sertare)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek συρτάρι (syrtári, “drawer”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Greek word goes back to Byzantine Greek συρτάριον (syrtárion), a diminutive of Ancient Greek συρτός (syrtós), the verbal adjective of σύρω (sýrō).^[6] The same Greek word gave Aromanian sirtare.^[2][7][8]

The variants săltar and saltar have two explanations.^[9][10] Scriban sees in them the same change of /r/ to /l/ as in tulbure beside turbure.^[9] Șăineanu explained the first as a folk etymology, after sălta (“to jump”), a box that jumps out when pulled.^[10] Cihac had taken the Greek word from Italian serrato (“closed”), a view the later dictionaries do not repeat.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in I. Golescu's Condica limbii rumînești, a manuscript dictionary of about 1832.^[3][4] Soon after, Kogălniceanu wrote of finding things „într-un saltar de masă” “in a table drawer”, with the Moldavian form.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The furniture sense has stayed the main one;^[9] Scriban noted that in Muntenia people more often said cutie, and that saltar was the Moldavian form.^[9] Regional synonyms include șufladă, pui and pult, and the rare Gallicism tiroar.^[3][12] Tiktin records the diminutive sertăraș, Moldavian săltăraș.^[4]

In the 20th century the word was extended to engineering, for a sliding part of a machine that lets steam or compressed air in and out of a cylinder, and for the plate of a gate valve.^[5][3] In underworld slang it means “pocket”.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – sertar in I. Golescu's Condica, the first record.^[3][4]
• 1893–1895 – Damé glosses it French tiroir, with the plural sertare.^[14]
• 1929 – Șăineanu explains the variant săltar as a folk etymology.^[10]
• 1955–1957 – the machine sense in the DLRLC.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drawer: a box-shaped part of a desk, chest or other piece of furniture that slides out.^[5][1]
2. (engineering) A slide valve: a machine part that by sliding lets the working fluid (steam, compressed air) into and out of a cylinder.^[5][3]
3. (engineering) The plate of a gate valve, which opens and closes it by moving along its axis.^[5]
4. (slang) A pocket.^[13]

Word family

• sertăraș

Related words

• Aromanian sirtare

Usage notes

DEX gives saltar as a variant;^[5][3] MDA2 marks săltar popular and saltar regional.^[5][3] The plural is sertare; an older sertaruri is obsolete.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. sertar
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, 864
4. ^ 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. sertar
5. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1008
6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională
8. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
9. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1191
10. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 586
11. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 322
12. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sertar
13. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. sertar
14. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 2
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 104