per

per¹ pear tree

Etymology tree of per¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin pirum

Latin pirus

Aromanian per

Forms

per m (plural peri)^[1]

• The tree is masculine, plural peri; the fruit is neuter, plural peare.^[2][3][4]
• Other spellings: péru, neuter, plural pearile, for the fruit in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[5] πέρου (péru), neuter plural πεάρι (peári) for the fruit and masculine for the tree, in the Greek script of Nikolaidis;^[6] per, plural peri for the trees and peare for the fruit, in the glossary of Papahagi's Basme;^[7] peru as Wiktionary's alternative form.^[1]

Etymology

The pear tree is inherited from Latin pirus (“pear tree”),^[2][8][1] and the neuter noun for the fruit continues pirum (“pear”).^[8][6]

The tree has the same name in Romanian păr, Megleno-Romanian per and Istro-Romanian per;^{[9][10][11][12]} Romanian names the fruit pară.^[9] Of the western languages, Italian pero kept the Latin word for the tree, while most use a derivative, such as French poirier and Spanish peral.^[13][10]

In Latin, the word for the fruit is recorded from Plautus and the word for the tree from Cato; de Vaan compares Ancient Greek ἄπιον (ápion, “pear”) and takes both words as loans from a Mediterranean language, since a proposed Proto-Indo-European source does not explain the Latin vowel.^[14]

Semantic evolution

Aromanian, like Latin, names the tree with a masculine and the fruit with a neuter noun.^[8][3] Papahagi quotes the riddle coáda pérlu u-áre dinăpói “the pear has its stalk behind”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1901 – péru “pear” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[5]
• 1905 – per “pear tree; pear” in the glossary of Papahagi's Basme.^[7]
• 1909 – πέρου “pear; pear tree” in Nikolaidis's dictionary, from Latin pirum and pirus.^[6]
• 1925 – Pascu derives the two nouns from pirus and pirum.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pear tree.^[15][2][1]
2. (neuter) A pear, the fruit.^[3][5][7]

per² hair

Etymology tree of per²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin pilus

Aromanian per

French poil

From the same root · per²

Latin pilo ← pilus

Latin pilosus ← pilus

Forms

per m (plural peri)^[1]

• Masculine, plural peri, definite singular perlu.^[16][5]
• Other spellings: Πέρου in the Greek script of Kavalliotis's word list, which its editor reads as peru;^[17] πέρου (péru), plural πέρι (péri), in Nikolaidis;^[18] peru in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[5] per in Weigand's glossary;^[19] perŭ in Bara's dictionary;^[20] peru as Wiktionary's alternative form.^[1]
• Regional forms: per “hair of the head” in the village of Turia;^[21] perŭ, articled pérlu, in the glossary of the ALAR atlas.^[22]

Etymology

The hair is inherited from Latin pilus (“a hair”),^[3][1][18] the Latin word for a single hair, especially of the body.^[14][10] De Vaan gives no etymology for it;^[14] Wiktionary calls it uncertain, noting that the older reconstruction of a Proto-Indo-European source shared with pilleus (“felt cap”) and Ancient Greek πῖλος (pîlos, “felt”) is no longer accepted.^[1]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian păr, Megleno-Romanian per and Istro-Romanian per.^{[9][10][11][12]} Further west it gave Italian pelo, French poil and Spanish pelo.^[13][9] In Romanian, as in Sardinian, it also became the word for the hair of the head and displaced Latin capillus (“hair of the head”).^[10][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's Greek–Aromanian–Albanian word list of 1770, where Πέρου translates Modern Greek τρίχα (trícha, “hair”).^[17]

Semantic evolution

Latin pilus was a single hair;^[15][3][1] Aromanian uses the word both for a hair of the body and for the hair of the head as a whole.^[15][3][1] Papahagi also gives it the senses of a fight, from people seizing each other by the hair, and of being terrified or fleeing in set phrases,^[3] and Cunia lists mi-acats di peri “I come to blows” among its expressions.^[15] Papahagi quotes di per fúne u fáțe “he makes a rope out of a hair”, said of someone who exaggerates.^[3]

Timeline

• 1770 – Πέρου “hair” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[17]
• 1894 – per “hair” in Weigand's glossary.^[19]
• 1901 – peru “hair”, articled perlu, in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[5]
• 1909 – πέρου “hair” in Nikolaidis's dictionary, from Latin pilus.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hair; body hair.^[15][3][1]
2. The hair of the head.^[15][21][5]
3. (figurative) A scuffle, a fight.^[3]