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Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word at

at1 horse, stallion

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1894 Weigand's glossary
Borrowed from
Turkish at

Forms

at m (plural ats)[1]

  • Plural ats (átsĭ) in Cunia,[1] ați in Dalametra and Pascu,[2][3] atsǐ in Polenaković's sources.[4]
  • Other spellings: AT in Papahagi's dictionary and in Pascu;[5][3] at in Weigand's glossary to his texts[6] and in Dalametra's dictionary.[2]

Etymology

The horse is borrowed from Turkish at (“horse”).[5][3][4] Eren finds the word, for an animal that is ridden or draws or carries loads, in all the old and modern Turkic dialects.[7]

The Turkish word has parallels in the neighbouring languages: Romanian at (“stallion”),[8] Megleno-Romanian at,[9] Albanian at and Modern Greek άτι (áti).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Weigand's glossary of 1894 records at as "stallion".[6]

Semantic evolution

Turkish lent the general word for a horse; in Aromanian it means a horse and, more narrowly, an ungelded male horse, the sense Weigand and Dalametra give.[1][5][6][2] Papahagi sends the reader to the synonyms cal "horse" and areáte "stallion".[5]

Timeline

  • 1894 – at “stallion” in Weigand's glossary.[6]
  • 1906 – at “stallion” in Dalametra's dictionary.[2]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives it from Turkish at.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A horse.[1][5]
  2. A stallion, a male horse that has not been gelded.[1][5][3]

at2 call to drive off a dog

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Turkish it
Ultimate origin
Old Turkic ıt

Forms

at![1]

  • Written AT in Papahagi's dictionary, which numbers it as its second word of this spelling.[5]

Etymology

The call to a dog is, according to Papahagi, borrowed from Turkish it (“dog”), which he cites in the spelling et from Bianchi and Kieffer's dictionary.[5] Nişanyan derives the Turkish word from Old Turkic ıt (“dog”), the native Turkic name of the dog.[10]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. A shout to chase away a dog: go away![1][5]
  • Romanian at

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 158
  2. ^ a b c d Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 32
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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. 2, 110
  4. ^ a b c Поленаковиќ, Харалампие (2007), Турски елементи во ароманскиот јазик, Скопје, p. 79
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 237
  6. ^ a b c d Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 295
  7. ^ Eren, Hasan (1999), Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü, Ankara: Bizim Büro, p. 23
  8. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
  9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 29
  10. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan, Nişanyan Sözlük: Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojisi (online edition)

Related etymologies

  • camã · also from Turkish
  • em · also from Turkish
  • cãsãbã · also from Turkish
  • anamã · also from Turkish
  • yirã · also from Turkish
  • has · also from Turkish
  • nai · also from Turkish
  • top · also from Turkish
Cite this entry

“At.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/at. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·