Etymology and origin of the Romanian word tură
tură1 shift
Etymology tree of tură1
Pronunciation
- [ˈtu.rə][1]
Forms
tură f (plural ture)[1]
Etymology
The word for a shift of workers is borrowed from French tour (“turn”), according to DEX, MDA2 and DN.[2][3][4][1] The DLR and NODEX explain it instead as a singular formed in Romanian from ⟨ture⟩, the plural of tur (“turn, round”), itself from the same French word.[5][6][7]
The French noun, in the senses “circular movement, turn”, is a derivative of tourner (“to turn”), from Latin tornō (“to turn on a lathe”).[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2's first record is in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary, in its third edition of 1900, with the sense “a service done in turn”.[3][5]
Semantic evolution
The first sense was “one's turn, a service done in rotation”.[3][4] From the mid-20th century it also means the group of workers who work at the same time and the period they work, a synonym of schimb, and the DLR quotes tura from the Contemporanul of 1948 and tura de noapte “the night shift” from 1970.[5][9] It also kept the sense of tur “a round”, as in Rebreanu's o tură de vals “a turn of waltz”.[9]
Timeline
- 1900 – in Barcianu's dictionary, the first record.[3]
- 1948 – am terminat tura “I've finished my shift” in the Contemporanul.[5]
- 1970 – tura de noapte “the night shift”.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- A shift: the workers of a factory or institution who work at the same time and on the same schedule, where work goes on in several shifts.[2][3][1]
- The period a shift works: a intra în tură “to go on shift”.[2][5]
- (rare) A round, a turn; a turn in a game.[2][1]
- (obsolete and regional) Pitch-and-toss, the game also called rișcă.[2]
tură2 rook
Etymology tree of tură2
Pronunciation
- [ˈtu.rə][1]
Forms
tură f (plural ture)[1]
Etymology
The word for the chess piece is borrowed from French tour (“tower; rook”), named for its shape.[2][3][5] The French word for “tower” continues Latin turris (“tower”), which is usually seen as a loan from Ancient Greek τύρσις (túrsis).[10][8]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2 and the DLR take the first record from volume VII of the Bulletin linguistique of Bucharest; the DLR then quotes Camil Petrescu, whose Alecu Golescu “moves the ivory rook briefly, but his mind is not on the game”.[3][5]
Semantic evolution
The word competes with the native names of the piece, turn and the rare turlă, both meaning “tower”.[3][5]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- tur
- turn
Usage notes
The plural of both words is ture.[2] A third, regional tură is a name of the turtle dove, an onomatopoeic formation.[5][3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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. 1154
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1301
- ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. tură
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. tură
- ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. tură
- ^ 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. tur
- ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 681
- ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 521
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Tură.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/tur%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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