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Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word par

par1 stake

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1770 Kavalliotis's Protopeiria
Inherited from
Latin palus
Ultimate origin
Latin pangō
Etymology tree of par1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin palus
Aromanian par
From the same root · par1
Latin tripalis ← palus

Forms

par[1]

  • Plural pari, definite singular parlu.[2][3]
  • Other spellings: PAR in Papahagi's dictionary;[3] par, plural pari, in Dalametra;[4] páru in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;[5] πάρου (páru) in Nikolaidis;[6] Πάρου in the Greek script of Kavalliotis's word list, read paru by its editor.[7] Wiktionary gives paru as an alternative form.[1]
  • Regional forms: páru, plural pári, in the dialect of Metsovo.[8]

Etymology

The stake is inherited from Latin pālus (“stake, post”).[3][9][1] The OLD derives the Latin noun from pangō (“to fix, insert firmly”), and compares Ancient Greek πάσσαλος (pássalos, “peg”).[10] De Vaan derives it from an instrument noun Proto-Italic *pāg-slo- of the same verb, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ph₂-n-ǵ- (“to attach”).[11]

The word is common to Romanian par, Megleno-Romanian par and Istro-Romanian pår (“pole, stake”).[12][13][14] Elsewhere the Latin word gave Italian palo, Spanish palo, Portuguese pau and French pieu.[15][16]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Πάρου translates Modern Greek παλούκι (paloúki, “stake”).[7]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is a stake or pole driven into the ground.[2][3] Papahagi adds the figurative senses "base, foundation", as in băgă par ("he laid a foundation"), "stubbornness", and "a fight, brawl", from coming to blows with sticks.[3] Dalametra records it for a dull, clumsy person,[4] and Cunia has sta ca parlu for someone who stands by and does nothing.[2]

Timeline

  • 1770 – Πάρου “stake” in Kavalliotis's word list.[7]
  • 1901 – páru, plural pari, in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[5]
  • 1906 – par in Dalametra's dictionary.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A stake, pole, a long piece of wood stuck in the ground.[2][3][1]
  2. (figurative) A foundation, base.[3]
  3. (figurative) Stubbornness.[3]
  4. A fight, brawl.[3]
  5. (figurative) A dull, clumsy person.[4]

par2 to seem

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1813 Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu
Inherited from
Latin pareo
Ultimate origin
Latin pāreō
Etymology tree of par2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pareo
Aromanian par
From the same root · par2
Latin appareo ← pareo
Latin dispareo ← pareo
Latin paresco ← pareo
Latin transpareo ← pareo

Forms

par (participle pãrutã)[1]

  • Second conjugation: aorist pãrui, participle pãrutã, infinitive pãreari.[2]
  • Other spellings: PAR, aorist părúĭ, infinitive păreáre, in Papahagi's dictionary;[3] páru in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;[5] πάρου (páru) in Nikolaidis;[6] Pascu heads it by the infinitive PĂREARE.[17]
  • Variants: Wiktionary gives paru, ampar, apar and aparu;[1] Cunia lists apar, mpar and ampar.[2]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Latin pāreō (“to appear; to obey”).[3][17][1] In Latin its impersonal third person also meant that something appears or is evident; de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *pās-ē- and, with a query, Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-s- (“to watch, see”).[11]

DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance *paˈrere (“to have the appearance of, seem”), continued by Romanian părea, Sardinian parrere and Aromanian par.[18] Further cognates are Italian parere and Old Occitan parer.[12][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pascu lists Boiagi's grammar of 1813 among his sources for the verb, glossed "to seem, appear".[17]

Semantic evolution

The verb means to seem or appear, and is often used impersonally: Cunia records nj-si pari ("I think, it seems to me"), nj-pari ghini ("I am glad, I like it") and nj-pari arãu ("I regret it").[2]

Timeline

  • 1813 – recorded in Boiagi's grammar, one of the sources Pascu names for the word.[17]
  • 1901 – páru “to seem” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[5]
  • 1905 – par in Pericle Papahagi's glossary to his folk tales.[19]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To seem, to appear.[2][3][1]
  2. (impersonal, with a dative pronoun) To seem to someone; to think, believe.[2]
  • Romanian par
  • Romanian părea

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 785
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 945
  4. ^ a b c d Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 162
  5. ^ a b c d Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 402
  6. ^ a b Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 408
  7. ^ 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. 93
  8. ^ Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
  9. ^ 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, 138
  10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  12. ^ 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)
  13. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 214
  14. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
  15. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  16. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 110
  17. ^ a b c d 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, 140
  18. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  19. ^ Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 672

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

“Par.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/par. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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