chiro

Forms

chiro m (definite articulation chirolu)^[1]

• Masculine, without a plural.^[2][3]
• Other spellings: kiro and chero in Wiktionary;^[1] KIRÓ in Papahagi's dictionary, with the older kiróŭ from the Dimonie codex;^[3][4] chiro in Dalametra's Romanian-based spelling;^[5] κιρό and καιρό (kiró, kairó) in the Greek script of Nikolaidis;^[6] Pascu has chero from Boiagi and chiroù from Pericle Papahagi.^[7]
• Regional forms: ḱi'ro in the Ohrid–Struga area.^[8]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek καιρός (kairós, “time; weather”).^[3][7][1] The Modern Greek word means both the weather and time,^[9] and continues Ancient Greek καιρός (kairós, “right measure; decisive moment; season”), found from Hesiod on.^[10][11]

Its origin is uncertain: Beekes lists connections with κείρω (keírō, “to cut”), the word then meaning a decisive moment, with κεράννυμι (keránnumi, “to mix”), as an atmospheric mixture, and with κύρω (kúrō, “to meet”), which is phonetically difficult.^[11] Babiniotis gives the same proposals.^[12] Pascu compares Albanian kero,^[7] and Wiktionary notes an archaic qëro (“time”) that may be related to the Greek word or borrowed from it.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest dated forms are in Boiagi's grammar of 1813, as Pascu cites it: chero "time", with the adverb unu chero "once, formerly".^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Ancient Greek the word meant the right measure and the decisive moment, then a season and time in general.^[11][12] Medieval Greek used it for the right moment and an appointed time,^[13] and in Modern Greek it means the weather.^[9] Aromanian has both: time, the time something takes, and the state of the weather;^[14][3] also an era and a moment.^[1] Papahagi quotes nu-i kirólu di 'nă-oáră "it is not the time it once was".^[4] Figuratively it also means a long time, and a state of things.^[2]

Timeline

• 1813 – chero “time” and unu chero “formerly” in Boiagi's grammar, as Pascu cites them.^[7]
• 1906 – chiro “time, weather” in Dalametra's dictionary.^[5]
• 1909 – κιρό “time” in Nikolaidis's dictionary.^[6]
• 1925 – Pascu derives it from Greek καιρός.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. time; the time something takes.^[1][14][3]
2. The weather.^[1][14][3]
3. An era, epoch; a moment.^[1][3]
4. (figurative) A long time; a state of things.^[2]

Related words

• Modern Greek καιρός (kairós)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 296
3. ^ a b c d e f g Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 716
4. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 608
5. ^ a b Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 53
6. ^ a b Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 184
7. ^ 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, 27
8. ^ Марковиќ, Марјан (2007), Ароманскиот и македонскиот говор од охридско-струшкиот регион (во балкански контекст), Скопје, p. 53
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 610
13. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
14. ^ a b c Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)