sigur

Forms

sigur m or n (feminine singular sigură, masculine plural siguri, feminine/neuter plural sigure)^[1] Molnar's grammar of 1788 spells it with sec-, after Latin secūrus.^[2] MDA2 lists the old variants secur and segur and a regional secure.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek σίγουρος (sígouros, “sure, safe”), which comes from Venetian seguro or siguro, from Latin secūrus (“free from care; safe”).^[4][1][5][6] The DLR and MDA2 give the Greek form as σέγουρος (ségouros).^[7][3] Ciorănescu follows Cihac and Densusianu;^[4] Cihac had first compared it with Latin and the Romance languages, and later took it straight from Greek.^[8][9] The Greek adjective is medieval: Babiniotis derives it from Venetian, and the Latin from sē- (“without”) and cūra (“care”).^[6][1]

The same Greek word gave Aromanian sigur.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Molnar's German–Romanian grammar of 1788.^[2] The DLR's oldest quotation, from the Carte trebuincioasă, speaks of „Sigure reguli” “sure rules” for each of the four operations of arithmetic.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were “certain, beyond doubt” and “reliable”.^[7][2] In 1848 a newspaper promised to print only „știri sigure” “reliable news”.^[7] The sense “safe, free from danger” and the adverbial uses “certainly” and, as an answer, “yes, of course” followed.^[12][2]

In the 18th century Romanian also borrowed the Greek verb as siguripsi “to make sure”, now obsolete.^[4] The Romanian formations include siguranță “safety; certainty”, nesigur “uncertain”, asigura “to ensure; to insure” and desigur “of course”.^[4][1] According to Wiktionary, Bulgarian borrowed сигурен (siguren) from this word.^[1]

Timeline

• 1788 – the first record, in Molnar's German–Romanian grammar.^[2]
• 18th century – the Greek verb siguripsi “to make sure”.^[4]
• 1848 – știri sigure “reliable news” in a newspaper.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. certain, sure: beyond any doubt.^[12][3]
2. (of a person) sure, convinced: Sunt sigur că va ploua. A fi sigur de cineva, to trust someone fully.^[12]
3. reliable, trustworthy;^[12] sigur de sine, self-assured.^[12]
4. safe, free from danger: la loc sigur, in a safe place.^[12]
5. accurate, unerring; firm;^[12][3] (of a remedy) effective.^[12][3]

Adverb

1. (as an answer) yes, of course.^[12]
2. certainly, definitely: mai mult ca sigur, more than certain.^[12]

Word family

• nesigur
• siguranță
• nesiguranță
• asigura
• desigur

Related words

• Aromanian sigur
• Latin secūrus

Usage notes

The colloquial phrase la sigur means “for certain, without risk”: a merge la sigur is to go straight for the target, and a lua pe cineva la sigur to tackle someone with clear proof.^[12][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. sigur
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 885
4. ^ a b c d e 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. sigur
5. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1198
6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 1325
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sigur
8. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 254
9. ^ Cihac, A. de (1879), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane II: Éléments slaves, magyars, turcs, grecs-moderne et albanais, Frankfurt am Main, p. 698
10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 944
11. ^ 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, p. 1, 230
12. ^ 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. 1015