zburător

Forms

zburător m (plural zburători)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian zbura + -ător, from the verb “to fly” and the agent suffix.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin also gives the verb as its source.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581–1582, at the creation of the birds in Genesis 1:20: „și pasări zburătoare spre pământ supt tăriia ceriului” “and flying birds over the earth under the firmament of heaven”.^[2][5] The word is an adjective there, “flying”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective “flying” is the oldest sense, and the feminine zburătoare came to mean a bird or any winged creature.^[2][5] The same feminine names a plant, the rosebay willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium).^[5][3]

As a masculine noun, zburător is a figure of folk belief: a spirit who comes at night to girls and young women and troubles their sleep.^[5][3] Cantemir describes him as a handsome youth, and Marian's collection on birth customs as a snake.^[5] Scriban notes a belief that he causes a fever of unrequited love, and names Eliade's poem Zburătorul.^[6] Romantic poetry made him the idealised lover, as in Eminescu: „A venit un zburător” “a zburător came”.^[5][3]

Sailors used the word for a sail of the mast and the yard that carries it.^[5][3] In the 20th century it also came to mean “aviator”, a poetic sense in the DLRLC.^[7][3] Building workers called the riggers who climb high structures zburători, a use recorded in the press in 1984.^[8]

Timeline

• 1581–1582 – pasări zburătoare “flying birds” in the Palia de la Orăștie.^[5][2]
• 1688 – zburătoare in the Bucharest Bible, at Genesis 1:20.^[9]
• 1953 – zburător “aviator” in the press.^[7]
• 1984 – zburători, building workers who climb high structures.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. flying; able to fly; made for flying: aripi zburătoare “wings for flying”;^[3][4] pești zburători “flying fish”.^[3][4]
2. floating or carried in the air by the wind.^[3]

Noun

1. (masculine) An aviator.^[3][7]
2. (masculine, folklore) A spirit who torments girls in their sleep; in Romantic literature, the personified longing for a lover, or the idealised lover.^[3]
3. (masculine, nautical) A sail of the mast; the yard that carries it.^[3][5]
4. (feminine zburătoare) A bird; any flying creature.^[3][4]
5. (feminine zburătoare) The rosebay willowherb, a tall herb with purple-red flowers, used in folk medicine.^[3]

Related words

• zbura
• zbor

Usage notes

Old texts also spell the word sburător.^[4] The plural is zburători for the masculine and zburătoare for the feminine and neuter.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. zburător
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1221
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1554
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. zburător
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1435
7. ^ 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, 737
8. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. zburător
9. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 1:20