Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word cãndu

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1770 Kavalliotis's Protopeiria
Inherited from
Latin quando
Ultimate origin
Latin quandō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin quando
Aromanian cãndu
French quand
Italian quando
From the same root
Latin ecquando ← quando
Latin quandocumque ← quando
Latin quandoque ← quando
Latin quandoquidem ← quando

Pronunciation

Forms

cãndu[1]

  • Also cãnd, which Cunia lists as a spelling he does not adopt and refers to cãndu;[2] Wiktionary gives cãnd and chend as alternative forms.[1]
  • Other spellings: CĂND, CĂ'NDU in Papahagi's dictionary;[3] cândo in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;[4] Cîndu or cîndo in Papahagi's glossary to his folk tales, which notes it as used everywhere;[5] Κάνντου in the Greek script of Kavalliotis's word list, read kändu by its editor;[6] kéndu in Daniil's Tetraglosson.[7]
  • Regional forms: Papahagi gives cănd for the north,[3] kënd among the Fărșerots[8] and cúndu for the region of Olympus.[9] Weigand records kundu, kund and kend,[10] and Pascu cîndo, cändu, cândo and cundu.[11]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin quandō (“when”).[11][1][12] The Oxford Latin Dictionary analyses the Latin word as quam (“how, as”) with the particle seen in dōnec (“until”), and compares Sanskrit कदा (kadā́, “when”).[13] The DÉRom reconstructs the Proto-Romance adverb and conjunction from this Latin word and cites the Aromanian form from Pascu.[14]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian când, Megleno-Romanian cǫn and Istro-Romanian când.[12][15][16] Further west the same Latin word gave Italian quando, French quand and Spanish cuando.[12][17]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Κάνντου, read kändu by its editor, translates Greek πότε “when?”.[6]

Semantic evolution

The Latin senses were kept: the word asks “when?” and, as a conjunction, introduces a clause of time.[18][1][10] Doubled, it forms phrases of repeated time: di cãndu-cãndu “from time to time”, and cãndu…, cãndu… “now…, now…”.[18][3]

Timeline

  • 1770 – Κάνντου (kändu) for Greek πότε “when?” in Kavalliotis's word list.[6]
  • 1814 – Kéndu iurtusésti for Greek ὁπόταν ἑορτάζῃς “when you celebrate” in Daniil's Tetraglosson, as printed by Leake.[7]
  • 1894 – kundu “when?, when, as” in Weigand's glossary, with kend.[10][19]
  • 1901 – cândo “when” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[4]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives it from Latin quandō.[11]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. When?, at what time?[18][1]

Conjunction

  1. When, at the time that.[18][1][10]
  • Romanian când

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 253
  3. ^ a b c Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 336
  4. ^ a b Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 89
  5. ^ Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 564
  6. ^ a b c Meyer, Gustav (1895), Albanesische Studien IV: Das griechisch-südrumänisch-albanesische Wörterverzeichnis des Kavalliotis, Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, phil.-hist. Classe 132, p. 100
  7. ^ a b Leake, William Martin (1814), Researches in Greece, London (prints Daniil of Moscopole's Tetraglosson), p. 387
  8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 597
  9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 408
  10. ^ 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. 312
  11. ^ a b c 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. 1, 65
  12. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
  13. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  15. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 30
  16. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
  17. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  18. ^ a b c d Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
  19. ^ Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 310

Related etymologies

  • featã · also from Latin
  • cu · also from Latin
  • cã · also from Latin
  • tu · also from Latin
  • shi · also from Latin
  • di · also from Latin
  • am · also from Latin
  • yin · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Cãndu.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/c%C3%A3ndu. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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