stavăr

Forms

stavăr^[1]

Etymology

Wiktionary and DLRLV make it inherited from Latin stabilis (“firm, steady”).^[1][2] Scriban gives the same source and compares the /v/ between vowels with avere.^[3] The Latin word was borrowed again later as stabil.^[1]

DLR calls the etymology uncertain and only compares the Latin adjective, and MDA2 does the same.^[4][5] Tiktin sees it as Dosoftei's own coinage on the Latin model, after stabilitās (“steadiness”), and compares stăvi.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1600, from a text printed in Hasdeu's Cuvente den bătrâni.^[6] MDA2 and DLR begin with Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints (1682–1686): „Și deaca vădzu împăratul stavărul și tăriia gândului ei, i se feace rușine și o slobodzî” “and when the emperor saw the steadfastness and firmness of her mind, he was ashamed and set her free”.^[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word meant steadfastness or firmness of mind, and DLRLV labels it Moldavian.^[4][2] Dosoftei also used de stavăr “thoroughly”, and the old law code has om de stavăr “a reliable man” in a rule that a man of no use at any task should be dismissed.^[4][2] Budai-Deleanu's lexicon still lists it, but it is now obsolete.^[4][5] Stavăr is also a surname.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1600 – the first record, in a text printed by Hasdeu.^[6]
• 1682–1686 – stavărul “steadfastness” in Dosoftei's Lives of the Saints.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) Steadfastness, firmness, stability.^[5][4][1]
2. de stavăr: thoroughly, soundly.^[5]
3. a fi om de stavăr: to be a person one can rely on; to be a decent person.^[5][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 1, 271
3. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1238
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. stavăr
5. ^ 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, 975
6. ^ 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. stavăr
7. ^ Iordan, Iorgu (1983), Dicționar al numelor de familie românești, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 424