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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word vară

vară1 summer

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1500–1520 Psaltirea Hurmuzaki
Inherited from
Latin vera
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥

Pronunciation

Forms

vară f (plural veri)[1]

Etymology

The word for summer is inherited from Latin vēra, the plural of vēr (“spring”) taken as a feminine singular.[2][3][4][5][1] Tiktin explains that the plural replaced the singular, which was awkward as a word of one syllable; primăvară “spring” was formed the same way.[3] The meaning moved to “summer” because the descendants of Late Latin prīma vēra (“early spring”) took over the general sense “spring”.[1] The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian vearã, Megleno-Romanian vęră and Istro-Romanian vęrę.[2][6][7] Albanian verë is compared with it, and Wiktionary takes the Albanian word as a loan from the same Latin form.[2][1] Old Neapolitan and Valencian have the same word for summer, while Spanish verano and Portuguese verão come from a derivative of the Latin noun.[8][1]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”), and its cognates include Ancient Greek ἔαρ (éar, “spring”), Lithuanian vasara (“summer”) and Old Church Slavonic весна (vesna, “spring”).[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is vara in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, at Psalm 73.[10] The Psaltirea Scheiană has the same verse: „vara și primăvara tu feceși-le” “summer and spring, you made them”.[11][4] Tiktin's first record is a Slavonic–Romanian Gospel of 1551–1553 (Matthew 24:32).[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed the season; the articled vara became an adverb “in summer”.[5][3] De vară describes summer clothes and pursuits, and plants and fruit that ripen in summer.[5][4] The warm spell of early November is vara Sfântului Martin “St Martin's summer”.[4] Tiktin records apă de vară “lukewarm water” and the saying vară este, iarnă este “there will be a summer, there will be a winter”, that is, time will tell.[3]

Romanian formed văra “to spend the summer; to pasture cattle in summer”, vărat “summer pasture time”, văratic “of summer, early ripening” and învăra “to turn summer”.[2]

Timeline

  • early 16th century – vara in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.[10]
  • 1551–1553 – vară in a Slavonic–Romanian Gospel.[3]
  • c. 1573–1578 – vara in the Psaltirea Scheiană.[4][11]
  • 1688 – the word in the Bucharest Bible.[11]
  • c. 1743 – the verb văra “to spend the summer” in Neculce's chronicle.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. summer: the warmest season of the year, between spring and autumn; in the northern hemisphere from 21 or 22 June to 23 September.[5][4][1]
  2. A warm period in a temperate climate.[4]
  3. (adverbially, as vara) In summer; every summer.[5]
  4. De vară: for summer, worn or practised in summer; of fruit, ripening in summer.[5][4]

Word family

  • văra
  • vărat
  • văratic
  • învăra

vară2 female cousin

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Latin verus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros
Etymology tree of vară2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vērus
Italian vero
Romanian văr
Romanian vară
From the same root · vară2
Latin vērātrum ← vērus
Latin vērāx ← vērus
Latin vērē ← vērus
Latin vēridicus ← vērus
Latin vērificō ← vērus
Latin vērisimilis ← vērus
Latin vēritās ← vērus
Latin vērō ← vērus
Latin vērum ← vērus
Latin verumdictum ← vērus
Italian davvero ← vero
Italian veramente ← vero

Pronunciation

Forms

vară f (plural vere, masculine equivalent văr)[1]

Etymology

The word for a female cousin is inherited from Latin (cōnsōbrīna) vēra (“true (cousin)”), the feminine of the phrase that gave văr.[13][14][15][1][16] Ciorănescu and Scriban present it as the feminine counterpart of the masculine.[17][18] Pușcariu gives the Aromanian feminine as veară.[19]

Earliest recorded meaning

Among the DLR's oldest quotations for the feminine are vară-sa “his cousin” in the Pravila of Lucaci and „du-te la Elisaveta, vara ta” “go to Elisabeth, your cousin” in Varlaam's Cazania.[15]

Semantic evolution

The sense has not changed.[15][13] Unlike vară “summer”, it has the plural vere.[1][13] Romanian forms diminutives such as verișoară, and Tiktin records the jocular vara verei, fina lelei “the cousin's cousin, the aunt's goddaughter” for distant relations.[16][17]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A female cousin: the daughter of one's uncle or aunt.[13][20][1]

Word family

  • verișoară

Usage notes

The two words differ in the plural: veri “summers”, vere “female cousins”.[5][13][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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. vară
  3. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. vară
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1413
  5. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1183
  6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1105
  7. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9213
  9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 73:18
  11. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vară
  12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. s.v. văra
  13. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1186
  14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1425
  15. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. văr
  16. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. văr
  17. ^ a b 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. văr
  18. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1391
  19. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 174
  20. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. vară

Related etymologies

  • apă · also from Latin
  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Vară.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/var%C4%83. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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