taur

Forms

taur m (plural tauri)^[1] Regional and old forms are taor, taore, taure and tahur; the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581 has taore: „omorâră pre taore” “they killed the bull”.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin taurus (“bull”).^{[5][2][6][4][1][7]} The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *táwros; its cognates include Ancient Greek ταῦρος (taûros).^[1][8] De Vaan notes that it lacks a sound change expected in Latin and that similar Semitic words for “bull” exist, so it may be an early loan into the western Indo-European languages.^[8]

It survives in Aromanian as tavru.^[5][9][10] Its Romance cognates include Italian toro, Occitan taur, Old French tor, Spanish toro and Portuguese touro, and Ciorănescu compares Albanian ter.^[5][7][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a personal name, Neag Taurul, in a document of 1475.^[4][12] As a common noun MDA2 dates it from the Palia de la Orăștie (1581), where it means a bull killed in anger.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The core sense, the uncastrated male of cattle, has not changed;^[6] bic and buhai are regional synonyms.^[6][2][13] Learned astronomy gave the constellation and the sign of the zodiac.^[6][2] Folk names for animals built on it include the stag beetle, the fire-bellied toad (Bombinator igneus) and, in taurul lui Dumnezeu, the rhinoceros beetle.^[4][2] Figuratively a taur is a strong, burly man.^[2][14] A lua taurul de coarne “to take the bull by the horns” means to face a difficulty boldly.^[6]

Timeline

• 1475 – Neag Taurul, a personal name, the first record.^[4]
• 1567 – Stoica Tauraș, a personal name with the diminutive.^[4]
• 1581 – taore “bull” in the Palia de la Orăștie.^[2][3]
• 1688 – tauri in the Bucharest Bible: „sânge de tauri și de țapi nu voi” “I delight not in the blood of bulls or of goats”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bull: the uncastrated male of cattle.^[6][1]
2. (entomology) The stag beetle.^[6][1]
3. (Taurul) The Bull, a northern constellation; the second sign of the zodiac.^[6]
4. (colloquial, figurative) A strong, burly man.^[2][14]

Word family

• tăuraș
• tăurel

Related words

• Aromanian tavru
• Latin taurus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 1162
3. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. taur
4. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. taur
5. ^ a b c 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. taur
6. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1105
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8602
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1022
10. ^ 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, 168
11. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997), Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz, Amsterdam / Atlanta: Rodopi (Leiden Studies in Indo-European 7), p. 384
12. ^ Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. taur
13. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1300
14. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. taur