teară

Forms

teară f (plural teri)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tēla (“web, cloth on the loom; warp”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} Burlă first proposed the etymology, and Pușcariu and the REW accepted it.^[2] Ciorănescu rejects a Persian origin, a word for “thread, fibre” proposed by Lokotsch.^[2] The Latin noun is formed on the root of texō (“to weave”).^[1][7]

The Aromanian cognate tearã means “skin on milk, cream”;^[5][2][8] Pușcariu took it as proof that the Daco-Romanian word is genuine, comparing Italian velo del latte (“veil of the milk”).^[5][2][8] The Romance cognates are Italian tela, Catalan tela, Spanish tela and French toile.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1812, in Gheorghe Șincai's Hronicul românilor;^[3][4] MDA2 cites the same work from its edition of 1853.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word is regional, recorded mainly in Banat, Transylvania, Moldavia and Bukovina.^[10][3] Its main sense is the warp, the long threads wound on the warp beam (60–100 metres, according to Scriban), a synonym of natră.^[10][3][11] From it comes the loom itself, recorded in folk verse: „Ucigă-te crucea, teară” “curse you, loom”.^[11][4] Regional uses also name the blade and the frame of a saw.^[4] Folk songs mock the lazy weaver who cannot set up a warp: „Se ține lelea de lume, Dar o teară nu știe pune” “she thinks herself a fine lady, but she cannot set up a warp”.^[10]

Timeline

• 1812 – first record, in Șincai's Hronicul românilor.^[3]
• 1853 – the edition of Șincai's chronicle that MDA2 cites for the sense “woven cloth”.^[4]
• 1901 – „o teară nu știe pune” in a folk song printed in Tribuna Poporului of Arad.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) The warp of a loom, the threads wound on the beam; natră.^[6][4][1]
2. (regional) A loom.^[6][4][11]
3. (dated) Woven cloth.^[4]
4. (regional) The blade or the frame of a saw.^[4]

Related words

• natră
• Aromanian tearã
• Latin tēla

Usage notes

The plural is teri, regionally tere;^[4][2][3] Moldavia also has the form tară.^[4][2][3] A separate teară of the forestry workers, “burnt earth thrown on a log chute in winter to slow the logs”, is borrowed from Italian terra “earth”.^[12][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. teară
3. ^ 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. teară
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1187
5. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 159
6. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1111
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. tēla
8. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1028
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8620
10. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1305
11. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 404
12. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. teară