A

a¹ (variant ah) (interj.) – exclamation of pain, of wonder, etc.

According to Cioranescu (2), it is of imitative origin.

Although it may be considered of imitative origin, it appears in many other Indo-European languages; cf. Sanskrit ā ‘exclamation of wonder’, Greek ά‘exclamation of indignation, pain’, Latin ā, āh ‘exclamation of pain, indignation, displeasure’, Gothic ō ‘exclamation of pain”, Lithuanian á ‘exclamation of pain’, all from Proto-Indo-European [hence PIE] *ā ‘exclamation of wonder’ (IEW, 1).

a² (Aromanian a ‘to, at’) (prep.) – to, at, next to.

Today it has a restricted use being replaced by la ‘id’ (see la).

Latin ad (Puşcariu, 1; Candrea-Densusianu, 1; REW, 136; Cioranescu, 1).

In Old Romanian, it was used in all situations where today it is used la: “şezu a dereapta lui Dumnezeu” (He sat on the right side of God) (Coresi; cf. Cioranescu), frequently found at the chroniclers, such as Dosoftei and other authors of 16th-17th centuries. Although today it is not used as much as several centuries ago, it is found in syntactical structures such as “miroase a flori’ (it smells like flowers) or a-casă ((at) home).

The forms of the so-called genitival article are compound forms of preposition a and the definite article ( –a, –l, –i, –le). This can be seen in noun phrases with a numeral such as “mamă a trei copii (mother of three)”, etc. since numerals do not take definite articles. A similar situation is found in Aromanian, where the so-called genitival article of Daco-Romanian is not expressed, but the genitive contructions are marked by the preposition a only, which is considered (definite) article by T. Papahagi (49), but he was wrong about it. The same phenomenon is found in some Romance and other languages .

It derives from with PIE *ad ‘at, next to’ (IEW, 3); cf. Oscan az ‘at’ Gaulish ad ‘at’, Welsh add ‘d’, Gothic at ‘at, next to’, OHG az ‘at, next to’.

abạc (n., neut.) – abacus, counting frame.

From Italian abbaco ‘id’ > Neo-Greek άμπάκος (Gáldi, Les mots, 143) or from French abaque (Cioranescu, 5).

abanọs (n., masc.) – ebony, ebony tree.

Turkish abanos ‘id’ > Neo-Greek αμπάνος (Roesler, 587; Şăineanu, 2, 5; REW, 2816; Cioranescu, 7); cf. Albanian abanos ‘id’, Bulgarian abanos ‘id’. It is of Semitic origin which was borrowed into Medio-Greek and Medieval Latin (hebenus) and from Latin into (most) European languages.

abạte (vb., III) (Aromanian abat ‘id’) – 1. to turn off, aside, away; 2. to push or drive away; 3. to desuade (from).

Medieval Latin abbattere (Puşcariu, 2; REW, 1; Cioranescu, 8).

It is a derivative of Romanian language from a bate ‘to beat’, prefixed with a, an usual method of verb derivation in Romanian (as one may see throughout this dictionary). In fact, the verb a bate has various meanings. Latin abbatere ‘to descend, to supress’ is not attested before 6th century AD. Its first attestation is found in the Salic Law (507-511) (cf. Niermeyer, 1,1), a legal code based on old Germanic traditions, formulated by Salic Franks (see bate).

abiạ (Aromanian avia) (adv.) – 1. hardly; 2. scarcely, very little, next to nothing; 3. only, just, merely.

Latin *ad–vix < vix ‘just, hardly’ (Philippide, Principii, 91; Puşcariu, 3; Candrea-Densusianu, 224; Cioranescu, 12) or from OCS abije ‘immediately’ (Cihac) which is semantically different from Romanian abia.

Romanian abia is a cognate of Latin vix, but it cannot derive from it, nor from unattested *ad-vix which would yield in Romanian *avis, or *abis, but not abia. On the other hand, it has no cognates in other Romance languages.

In order to explain the origin of Latin vix, Walde (2, 810) argues that it derives from a PIE *ŭiqŭ–s ‘heavy, overwhelming’ which, he believes, is cognate with Greek ιπόω ‘to lie heavily on, to squeeze’. If he is right, then Romanian abia may derive form the same (or similar) root as Latin vix. In this case the labio-velarkŭ turned into voiceless labial p, a frequent phonological transformation in Thraco-Dacian (see Argument to DELR). Afterwards, it turned into the voiced bi-labialb.

abitịr (adv.) (obs.) – much better, stronger.

Turkish better ‘worse’ (Cioranescu, 14) or Turkish abeter, the comparative form of abe ‘clear’ (Şăineanu, 2, 6; DAR). Cioranescu rejects this hypothesis, although it is much more plausible than his. It is used, in general, with the comparative adverb mai ‘more’.

abrạş (Aroumanian abraşcu „insolent, impertinent”) (adj.) – 1. vicious, restive (about horses); 2. wicked, violent (about people).

Turkish abraş (Şăineanu, 2, 7; Cioranescu, 21). Şăineanu believes that Turkish borrowed it from Arabic. I have to mention that the word is found in Albanianabrash and Bulgarian abraš as well.

In fact, this adjective cannot be of Turkish or Arabic origin since there are several cognates in various Indo-European languages. It derives from PIE *abhro– ‘strong, violent’ (IEW, 2); cf. Welsh afr ‘very’, Illyrian tribe name Abroi, Thracian Abro– (in personal names), Gothic abrs ‘strong, violent’, English brash. Therefore, it seems that Turkish borrowed it from Romanian or other Balkan language. Thraco-Illyrian origin.

Abrụd – town in Transylvania.

This place-name is attested since ancient times as Abruttum, the ancient name of this city (cf. Giurescu, 1, 125). Thraco-Dacian origin.

abuạ (vb., I) – to fall asleep, to sleep.

A regionalism (Transylvania) avoided by the authors of etymological dictionaries.

It derives form PIE *au-, au–es-, au–s– ‘to stay overnight, to sleep’ (IEW, 72); cf. Armenian aganim ‘to stay overnight, to spend the night’, Greek ιαύω ‘to sleep’. In Thraco-Dacian PIE *u turned into v or b at initial or in intervocalic position (see vatră). Thraco-Dacian origin.

aburcạ (vb., I) – to climb, to go up.

From Latin *arboricare < arbor (Puşcariu, ZRPh., 31, 616; DAR; REW, 606). Cioranescu (29) rejects Puşcariu’s hypothesis and proposes *aboricare < *boricare < *oricare, from Latin orior ‘to climb’. Romanian aburca is cognate to Latin orior, but in fact, it is a derivative of a urca ‘to go up, to mount, to ascend (prefixed with ab-) from PIE *er-, *or– ‘to set in motion, to go up, to rise’ (IEW, 326); cf. Hittite šark ‘to climb, to go up’, Sanskrit abhy–uccar ‘to go up, to climb’, Avestan ar ‘to set in motion’, Greek όρνυμι ‘to move, to rise’ (see urca). Thraco-Dacian origin.

ạbur (Aromanian abur) (n., masc.) – steam, vapor.

It was considered to be of Thraco-Dacian origin since Miklosich (Slaw. Elem., 9), although some other linguists after him believed to be a loan-word from Albanian abull ‘id’ (Cihac, 2, 714; Philippide, 2, 605, Meyer, EWA, 28). Instead Cioranescu (28) wants for it a Latin origin, namely form Latin albulus ‘white spot’. These two hypotheses were rejected by other linguists.

Later on, in the second half of the 20th century, Brâncuş (VALR, 28) shows that it is of Thraco-Dacian origin. I have to mention that today, most linguists consider it of Thraco-Dacian origin. Indeed, it derives from PIE *bholo– ‘stem, fog’ (IEW, 162) through an older *ad–bolo > Romanian abur; cf. Albanian avull „id” (Gheg dialect), abull ‘id’ (Tosk dialect). The root is found in other Indo-European languages; cf. Sanskrit busa ‘steam, fog’, Old Irish boladh ‘smell’, Lithuanianbula ‘fog, steam’, Latvian buls ‘id’. Thraco-Illyrian origin (see boare ‘breeze’, bură ‘drizzle, fog’).

Derivatives: a aburi, abureală, aburire, aburos.

ac (Aromanian ac) (n., neut.) – needle, sting.

Latin acus ‘wheat husk, needle’ (Puşcariu, 6; Candrea-Densusianu, 3; REW, 130, Cioranescu, 30).

The root is found in words of many Indo-European languages from PIE *ak’-, ok’- ‘sharp’ (IEW, 18); cf. Greek αχυρός, OHG ahir, Gothic ahana, akeit‘vinegar’, Old Icelandic ogni, Lithuanian akutas, OCS ociti, Old Irish acat ‘vinegar’,as well as Greek άκρος ‘mountian tip’, Greek ακή, ακμήv ‘top’, Old Latinocris ‘hill’, Umbrian ukar, ucar ‘hill’. The root is found in other Romanian words as well (see acru ‘sour’, oţet ‘vinegar’).

acadeạ (n., fem.) (obs.) – a candy made of melted sugar.

Turkish akıde ‘id’ < Arabic akīda (Şăineanu, 2, 7; Cioranescu, 31).

acạsă (Aromanian acasă) (adv.) – home, at home.

It is a derivative of casă ‘house’ prefixed with preposition a² (see a² and casă).

acatịst (n., neut.) – 1. hymn and mass honoring Virgin Mary and saints. 2. a list of names of people given to the priest to pray for them.

Greek ακάθιστος ‘id’ < καθίζω ‘to lie down’ with a privative α, because such hymns are sung standing (cf. Cioranescu, 36).

Derivatives: acatistier ‘a book of such hymns’.

acătặrii (variants acătarea, acătărea, acătare) (adj.) – 1. good, beautiful, nice; 2. appropriate.

There are several hypotheses regarding the origin of this word: from Latin *ad–que–tale (Cipariu, Gram., 2, 60) or de cătare (Philippide, Principii, 8) or de atare(Puşcariu, 8) and finally from Latin *eccum talis (Cioranescu, 35). None of these solutions can be accepted for various reasons. The Latin ‘etymons’ are not plausible compounds, without any correspondent forms in other Romance languages, while de cătare and de atare do not explain the presence of initial a and the elision of preposition de. It should be associated with the verb a căuta ‘to look for, to search’ from PIE *keu-, skeu– „to look at, to observe” (IEW, 587) (seecăuta).

acăţạ (variant a agăţa, Aromanian acaţu) (vb., I) – 1. to hang (up), to hook up.

Latin *accaptiare < captiare ‘to catch, to try to catch’ (Philippide, Principii, 43; Puşcariu, Lat. ti, 12; Candrea-Densusianu, REW, 1663). Even if we admit the existence of a Latin *accaptiare, one cannot explain why pt turned into t or ţ (ts). The root is found in other Balkan languages; cf. Bulgarian kacja and kace(kacja) ‘bramble’ or Hittite aggati ‘a catching net’. Other Romanian words such as caţă ‘a catching tool’, căţăra ‘to climb, to clamber’ derive form the same root. Thus we may reconstruct IE *kati– ‘to hang up, to catch’ (see caţă, căţăra). Thraco-Dacian origin.

acẹl, acẹla (Aromanian aţel) (dem. pron.) – that.

Lat. *ecce illi, *ecce illa (Diez, I, 337; Puşcariu, 9; Candrea-Densusianu, 532; REW, 4266). This hypothesis cannot be accepted. Romanian acel(a) is a derivative of ăl(a) prefixed with ac– found in other compound form (see acest(a) ‘this’, acum ‘now’, aici ‘here’, aşa ‘thus’).

Romanian ăl seems to derive from PIE *al-, ol– (cf. IEW, 24), not form Latin ille, illum. The root reconstructed by Walde-Pokorny does not explain –ll– of Latinille, neither OCS onŭ, Lithuanian ans, Armenian na, ayn, OHG ener. Therefore, PIE root *ol–ne, reconstructed by Ernout-Meillet explains much better all the forms mentioned above and the definite article in Celtic languages; cf. Irish an, Breton an, ar, al, Welsh y, yr. On the other hand, Romanian ăl is closer to Umbrian ulu, ulo ‘illuc’ and Oscan ulas ‘illius’ then to Latin ille (see a³, ăl, acest).

acerạ (variants acira, acina) (reg.) (vb., I) – 1. to wait; 2. to watch (Banat).

Latin *acinari (Graur, BL, 4, 64; Cioranescu, 45). Latin acinari has no attestation. On the other hand, Puşcariu (Dacor., 2, 592) thinks that it derives from Albanian kjëlloni „to take care”, but the derivation it is not possible, althoguh this Albanian verb is a cognate of Romanian acera. It seems to be of Thraco-Illyrian origin.

acẹst, acẹsta (variant ăsta, Aromanian aţestu, aest(ŭ)) (dem. pron.) – this.

Latin iste, ista, istud ‘id’ (Puşcariu, 11; Candrea-Densusianu, 13; REW, 4553; Cioranescu, 46). Romanian acest(a) is a derivative of ăsta ‘this’ which is rather a cognate of Latin iste. Again Roamania ăsta comes closer to Umbrian estu ‘istum’, esto ‘ista’; cf. Albanian kë–to ‘this’.

acioạie (variant cioaie) (n., fem.) – bronze, yellow brass.

Italian acciaio ‘steel’ (Hasdeu, Etym.; DAR; Cioranescu, 49). Candrea and Scriban reject this hypothesis, although Hasdeu seems to be right.

aciuạ (variant aciuia, aciola, acina) (vb., I) – to hide, to shelter.

OCS utečati ‘to run’ (Cihac, 9). Latin *acellare < Latin cella ‘hiding place’ (Philippide, ZRPh., 31, 287; Puşcariu, Conv. lit., 1908, 602; REW, 1802; DAR), Latin *accubiliare (Candrea-Densusianu, 10) or Latin cieri ‘to incite, to call’ (Cioranescu, 50).

All four hypotheses are inadequate, either phonologically or semantically. Although Philippide is partially right, since Latin cella ‘hiding place’ is cognate to Romanian aciua.

Romanian aciua derives from PIE *k’el– ‘to cover, to hide’, with the nominal from k’olia ‘cover, hiding place’ (IEW, 553); cf. Latin cilium ‘eyelid’, Gothic hulian ‘to hide’, Old Norse hulia, OHG hullen ‘to cover’. The noun acioală ‘hiding place’ derives from k’olia and the verbal form aciola seems to be a derivative ofacioală. All these forms present an initial a, one of the derivation method found in Romanian languages. From the same root derive some other Romanian words without an initial a (see colibă ‘hut’ colnă ‘a rudimentary shelter for animals or farming tools’ , şoric ‘pork skin’). Thraco-Dacian origin.

acọlo (variants acole, acolea, acoló, colo, Aromanian acló, aclói aclóţe, Istro-Romanian colo etc.) (adv.) – there, over there.

Latin *eccum illoc (Philippide, Principii, 92; Puşcariu, 15; Candrea-Densusianu, 12; REW, 4270; Cioranescu, 54). As in the case of aici (aci) ‘here’ and Romanian demonstrative pronouns, adverbs and prepositions, acolo cannot derive from some strange Latin compound.

Romanian acolo derives from PIE *kʷel– ‘far away (in space or time’ (IEW, 640). Bomhard (316) reconstructs a Proto-Nostratic*kʷ(h)ul-, *kʷ(h)ol– ‘far off, far away, distant’; cf. Greek τήλε ‘far off, far away’ and Welsh, Cornish, Breton pell „far away”, as well as in the Altaic family: cf. Classical Mongolian qola ‘far, distant’, Buriat χolo ‘far, distant’ (see acel, acest, încoace, încolo). Thraco-Dacian origin.

acoperị (variant coperi, Aromanian acoapir) (vb., I) – 1. to cover; 2. to hide.

Latin cooperire ‘to cover’ (Puşcariu, 395; Candrea-Densusianu, 307; REW, 2205; Cioranescu, 2379). In Latin, cooperire was much less frequent then operio ‘id’ as opposed to aperio ‘to open’.

It is found in all Romance languages; cf. Italian coprire ‘id’, French couvrir ‘id’, Spanich cubrir ‘id’, Vegliote koprer ‘id’ etc. Only Romanian form has an initiala. Albanian kaplo ‘to cover’ cannot derive form Latin, but it seems it is a cognate of the Romance forms.

Both Latin forms o-perio and a-perio derive from the same PIE *uerio (Ernout-Meillet), found also in Italic, Baltic, Slavic and Sanskrit languages; cf. Osco-Umbrian veru ‘door’, Lithuanian už–veriu ‘to close’, ad–veriu ‘to open’, OCS vira, vreti ‘to close’ and Sanskrit apavrnoti ‘to open”’(III, sg.), apivrnoti ‘to close’ (III, sg.).

Derivatives: acoperire, acoperământ, acoperiş, acoperitor.

ạcru (Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian acru ‘sour’) (adj.) – sour.

Vulgar Latin *acrus < Latin acer ‘sharp, enthusiastic, violent’ (Puşcariu, 15; Candrea-Densusianu, 13; REW, 92; Cioranescu, 59). Cognates are found in all Romance as well as in Albanian egrë ‘sour’.

Latin acer derives from PIE *ak’er, ok’er din ak-, ok’- ‘sharp’ (IEW, 24).

Derivatives: a acri, acreală, acrişor, acruţ.

acụm (variants acnu, acmu, amu, acu, acuşi, Aromanian amu, amo ‘now’, Megleno-Romanian (a)cmo, amu, mo ‘now’, Istro-Romanian (a)cmo, (a)hmo) ‘now’ (adv.) – now.

Latin *eccum modo (Philippide, Principii, 92; Puşcariu, 18; Candrea-Densusianu, 14; REW, 5630, Cioranescu, 65). The putative Latin ‘etymon’ *eccum modowould have a completely different meaning then Romanian acum. On the other hand, d of modo should not drop off, even more it was not preserved in any of the many forms found in Romanian dialects.

In other words, Latin *eccum modo would give in Romanian *ec(u)mod, but not acmu, acnu, the older forms for ‘now’. Romanian acnu, acmu derive from PIE *nu ‘now’ (IEW, 770), prefixed with ac-. The root is found in many other Indo-European languages; cf. Latin nunc ‘now’, Gothic nu ‘id’, OHG nu ‘id’, Lithuanian nu ‘id’, Tocharian A, B nu ‘id’, Old Irish nu ‘id’, Greek νυ, νυν ‘id’. The prefix ac– is quite usual in Romanian in demonstrative pronouns and adverbs (see acel ‘that’, acest ‘this’, aşa ‘thus’). Traco-Daian origin.

adălmạş (variant aldămaş) (n., neut.) – drink or meal offered after a transaction.

Hungarian adolmás ‘1. toast, blessing; 2. pitcher of wine (fig.)’ (Cihac, II, 475; Berneker, 27, Gáldi, Dict., 86; Cioranescu, 184).

Romanian adălmaş has the same origin as adămană ‘bribery, gift’; cf. Hungarian adomany ‘id’. Poghirc (ILR, 327) associates Romanian adămană with aademeni ‘to allure, to tempt’ and considers it to be of Thraco-Dacian origin (see ademeni). Hungarian borrowed these forms from Romanian. The word is found in some other neighboring languages; cf. Ukrainian odomaš ‘gift’, Serbian aldumaš ‘salary’, Slovak aldomaš ‘salary’. Thraco-Dacian origin.

adăpạ (Aromanian adap, Megleno-Romanian dap, Istro-Romanian adopu) (vb., I) – 1. to give water to an animal; 2. (refl.) to drink water (about an animal).

Latin adaquare ‘to water, to sprinkle’ (Puşcariu, 20; REW, 147; Cioranescu, 69). The form is found only in Italian with the same meaning as in Latin The meaning of Romanian adăpa is found only in Vulgata, the Latin version of Septuaginta. The translation was done by Saint Hyeronymus, around 383 AD at the request of Pope Damasus. Saint Hyeronymus was born and lived part of his life in Illyria (see apă ‘water’).

adăstạ (Aromanian adastu) (vb., I) – to stand by, to wait.

Latin *adastare (Puşcariu, 22; REW, 148; Cioranescu, 72). Meyer-Lübke follows Puşcariu and translate Latin *adastare by ‘to wait in line, to hesitate’, while Cioranescu thinks that adastare means ‘to be present’. In fact, this verb has no attestation whatsoever, neither in Ancient Latin (cf. TLL), nor in Medieval Latin (cf. Niermeyer). On the other hand, there are no cognates in any other Romance language.

Romanian adăsta is a derivative of a sta ‘to stay, to stand’ prefixed with the preposition *ad (as in adăpa, adăpost(i), etc), therefore from an older *ad–stare > *adastare ‘to stand by, to wait’ (see sta).

adăugạ (variant adăugi, Aromanian adavg) (vb., I) – to add.

Latin adaugere ‘to make bigger, to add’ (Puşcariu, 10; Candrea-Densusianu, 16; REW, 149; Cioranescu, 68).

Dervatives: adaus, adăugire, adăugare.

adăpọst (n., neut.) – shelter.

Latin ad depositum or *addapostum (Philippide, Principii, 97; Tiktin; Puşcariu, 21; Rosetti, I, 161; Cioranescu, 70) or Latin ad appos(i)tum (Candrea-Densusianu) where appositum derives from appono ‘to put, to place’ from an Old Latin *adponno. All this discussion makes no sense since Old Latin cannot explain any Romanian etymology, unless one considers that a similar form may have existed in Thraco-Illyrian. Uncertain origin.

Derivatives: a adăposti, adăpostire, adăposteală, adăpostitor.

adăuş (adj.) – heavy breathing (about animals) (western Trans.)

The authors of DAR assciate it with Hungarian dühös ‘angry, furious’, but this does make sense since the meaning of the two words are different. This adjective should be associated with adia ‘to breeze’ and duios. It derives PIE *dheu-, *dheu– ‘to breeze, to breathe, breath’ (IEW, 261) prefixed with the preposition *adas adia (see adia, duios). Thraco-Dacian origin.

adậnc (Aromanian adânc, Megleno-Romanian dănca) (adj.) – deep.

Latin aduncus (Puşcariu, 25; Candrea-Densusianu, 17; Tiktin).

Latin aduncus means ‘aquiline, curved’ in reference to body parts such as nose, beak or horns. Spanish adunco has the same meaning as in Latin (cf. Williams, 1988), while Romanian adânc has a completly different meaning. Obviously this hypothesis cannot be accepted. On the other hand, a Latin round vowel cannot turn into a middle or front vowel in Romanian. Because of this, Meyer-Lübke (REW, 144) and Rosetti (ILR, 161) proposed a Vulgar Latin *adancus, but this form has no attestation or any cognates in any other Romance language. In other words, none of these two hypotheses can be accepted.

Romanian adânc may be associated with PIE *dheub-, dheup– *dheug-, *dheuk– ‘deep, hole’, dhumb ‘hole or depression into the ground’ (IEW, 267). Romanian adânc seems to derive from *dheuk-, with a later nazal infix as in Celtic languages and prefixation with *ad, therefore a *ad–demk, *ad–denk; cf. Irishdomhain ‘deep’, Welsh dwfn ‘id’, Cornish down ‘id’, Breton doun ‘id’ as well as Gothic diups ‘id’ and Lithuanian dumbaris ‘a deep hole full of water’ can be added as a cognate. Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: adâncire, adâncime, adâncitură, adâncit.

ademenị (vb., IV) – 1. to atract; 2 to seduce.

Cihac (2, 202) associates it with a momi ‘id’ and OCS mamiti ‘to cheat’. From Hungarian adomany ‘gift, donation’ (DAR; Cioranescu, 73). Instead, Hasdeu considers it to be of Thraco-Dacian origin (Col. lui Traian, 1874, 102). This Romanian verb has the same structure as adăpa, adăpost(i), adăsta, namely a (verbal) root prefixed by preposition *ad. In other words, from an older *admeni. Poghirc (ILR, 327) shows that adămană ‘gift, bribe’ is related to Phrygianάδαμνειυτό (in Hesychius; cf. Hasdeu, Col. lui Traian, 1874, 102). As one may see the Phrygian form is built in the same manner. Pre-Roman origin (seeadălmaş, momi).

Derivatives: ademenire, ademeneală, ademenitor.

adẹs (variants adesea, adeseori) (adv.) – frequently.

It is a compound from from a² şi des (see des).

adevặr (Aromanian aver, Istro-Romanian veru ‘truly’) (n., neut.) – truth.

Vulgar Latin *ad-de-verum (Philippide, Principii, 96; Puşcariu, 24; REW, 9262; Cioranescu, 77).

This Latin ‘etymon’ cannot be accepted. It is not attested anywhere and there are no cognates forms in any Romance language to derive form this putative etymon. The Daco-Romanian and the Aromanian forms indicates an older *adver, from PIE *ŭer– ‘truth’ (Walde, 2, 728) prefixed with the preposition *ad, while Istro-Romanian veru kept the root as it was. The root can be found in many Indo-European languages; cf. Sanskrit ri–vrata ‘the one who tells the truth’, Latin verus ‘true’, OHG war ‘truth’, Irish fir ‘id’, Welsh gwir ‘id’, OCS vera ‘belief’, Avestan vərəne ‘to believe’, as well as Albanian vërtet ‘inded’, vërtetë ‘truth’.

Derivatives: a (se) adeveri, adeverinţă, adeveritor, neadevăr.

adiạ (variant aduia (Trans.) Aromanian adil’iu ‘1. to breathe; 2. to caress’) (vb., I) – 1. to blow, to breeze; 2. to breathe gently; 3. to caress.

Vulgar Latin *aduliare < adulare ‘to adulate, to flatter’ (REW, 204) or Latin *adiliare < ilia ‘intestines’ (Candrea, Conv. lit., 39, 119; Pascu, I, 102). It is obvious that both etymons should be rejected because their meanings are completely different.

Cihac (2, 1) thinks that it derives form Polish odwiač ‘to breathe’, while Scriban associates it with Bulgarian duja and Serbian dujem ‘to breathe’. The Slavic forms are, indeed, cognates to Romanian adia, but it can be derived from any of them, but all these forms derive from PIE *dheu-, *dheu– ‘to breeze, to breathe, breath’ (IEW, 261); cf. Sanskrit apa–dvan ‘to rise’ upa–dvan ‘to fly towards’. The Aromanian form indicates an older *adilio, –are. Again the verbal root is prefixed by preposition *ad. It is related to duios ‘loving, affectionate’ and adăuş ‘heavy breathing’ (see duios, adăuş). Thraco-Dacian origin.

adịcă (variants adecă, adicătăle, adicătălea) (adv.) – 1. namely, strictly speaking; 2. therefore.

For this Romanian word there were proposed some of the most bizarre etymologies.

From Greek δική ‘justice’ (Hasdeu, Etym.; Jarnik, ZRPh., 27; Candrea, Elem., 64) or Latin ad id quod (Philippide, Principii, 7) or even Turkish (Arabic) dakika‘moment, second’ (Lokotsch, 469) and some others not worthy to mention. Obviously, none of these etymologies can be accepted.

Nevertheless, there is a Latin adaeque (ad–aeque) ‘equally, thus’ (in Corpus gloss. lat., 5, 21; cf. Cioranescu, 81) which the Latin verb adaequo ‘to make equal’ derives from (cf. Glare, 1997). On the other hand, Latin adaeque is extremely rare and one cannot tell if it can be associated with Romanian adică. Furthermore, there are not cognates in any Romance languages. However, it may be associated with a zice ‘to say’, since it has a similar meaning with the expression va să zică‘therefore’, although it is not clear why d did not turn into z. Uncertain origin (see zice).

adineạuri (variants adineaori, adineaorea) (adv.) – a little while ago, not too long ago.

Latin in illa hora (Puşcariu, 26; REW, 4146) would give in Romanian *ilioară or *inioară, similar to Italian allora < illa hora. Latin *ad de in illa horam(Puşcariu, 26). This hypothesis does not make any sense. Needless to say that a compound of five Latin elements to ‘explain’ the etymology of a Romanian word cannot be accepted. This adverb should be associated with oară ‘time’ and odinioară (see oară, odinioară).

adịns (variants înadins, dinadins) (adv.) – on purpose, deliberately.

Latin *ad ipsum illum (REW, 4541; DAR) or Latin ad idipsum ‘just for this’ (Cioranescu, 84). In both cases the derivation is not possible. It is a derivative of ins‘individual’ (see ins).

adormị (Aromanian adormu) (vb., IV) – 1. to fall asleep; 2. death, demise (rel.).

Latin addormire ‘to fall asleep’ (Puşcariu, 27; Candrea-Densusianu., 509; REW, 157; Cioranescu, 92) (see dormi ‘to sleep’).

Derivatives: adormire, adormitor, adormiţéle ‘pasqueflowers, morning glories’.

adụce (Aromanian aduc, Megleno-Romanian duc, Istro-Romanian aducu) (vb., III) – 1. to bring; 2. to bend; 3. to be like, to resemble.

Latin adducere ‘to pull’ (Puşcariu, 28; Candrea-Densusianu., 518; REW, 160; Cioranescu, 94); cf. Italian addure, Catalan adur, Spanish aducir (see duce).

Derivatives: aducere, aducătură, adusătură, aducător.

adulmecạ (variants adulma, aulma, olm „smell”, ulma „id”) (vb., I) – 1. to scent, to smell, to sniff, to follow by smell; 2. to sense, to notice.

Latin *adolmicare (Hasdeu, Etym., 386; Puşcariu, 29) or Latin *adosmare (REW, 6112). Cioranescu (95) considers it of obscure origin, but he associates it with Latin *adosmare < Latin *osmare, from Greek οσμάω ‘to sniff, to smell’. None of these hypotheses can be accepted, since the proposed etymons are not attested or there are no cognates in any of the Romance languages. On the other hand, Romanian adulmeca is cognate to Greek οσμάω.

Romanian adulmeca derives from PIE *od– ‘to smell’, *od–ma ‘smell, aroma, perfume’ (IEW, 712); cf. Armenian hot ‘steam, smell’, hotim ‘to smell’, Homeric Greek οδμή, Dorian Greek οδμά ‘steam, smell’, Latin odefacio, olefacio ‘to smell’, oleo ‘to smell, to stink’, Lithuanian ǔodžiu ‘to smell’. It seems that the Romanian verb derives from the nominal form *odma ‘smell’. Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: adulmecare, adulmecător.

adunạ (Aromanian adun, Megleno-Romanian dun, Istro-Romanian aduru) (vb., I) – 1. to gather, to bring together; 2. to heap, to accumulate; 3 to add.

Latin adunare ‘to unite, to bring together’ (Puşcariu, 31; REW, 209; Cioranescu, 97); cf. Italian adunare, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese aunar. The verbal formadunare is rare in Latin (only in a few Late Latin glosses), while the noun adunatio ‘gathering, reunion’ is found more often.

Derivatives: adunare, adunat, adunătură, adunător.

ạer (Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian aeru) (n., neut.) – 1. air; 2. look, appereance.

Latin aer (Puşcariu, 43; REW, 240; DAR; Cioranescu, 101). Panromanic; cf. Albanian ajër ‘id’. The meaning #2 is borrowed from French. The word itself is not a modern loanword since it is attested in Romanian Balkan dialects.

Derivatives: a aera, aereală, aeresc, aerian, aerisi < Neo-Greek αερίζω, as well as modern loanwords such as aeroplan, aeronaut, aeronavă etc.

afạră (Aromanian afoară) (adv.) – outside, beyond.

Latin ad foras < foras ‘outside’ (Puşcariu, 33; Candrea-Densusianu, 550; REW, 265; Cioranescu, 105); cf. Italian fuori, Old French afors, Spanish afuera.

Walde (1, 529) erroneously derives Latin foris (foras) from PIE *dhuor ‘door’.

However, there are similar forms in other Indo-European languages; cf. Albanian afër ‘next, close’, Gothic afar ‘beyond’, Hittite para ‘outside’, Sanskrit apara‘behind, later’, Armenian ap΄n ‘shore’, OHG ufer ‘shore’. All these forms seem to derive from PIE *āpero ‘shore’ (IEW, 53).

ạfin (Aromanian afin) (n., masc) – blueberry bush (Vaccinium myrtillus).

Hungarian afonya (Cihac, 2, 475), but Cihac is wrong about it, since the form is found in Aromanian as well, which is spoken in Greece, Albanian and southern Bulgaria and therefore it cannot borrow it form Hungarian. From Latin daphne ‘laurel’ (Herzog, RF, 1, 94-104). In this case, the derivation is not possible, although the two forms are cognates. Romanian afin should be associated with Calabrian afina ‘laurel’ which seems to be inherited from Oscan language. Latindaphne is a loanword from Greek δάφνη. Chantraine (255) argues that the Greek form is of Mediterranean origin; cf. Micenian dapu. From Romanian it was borrowed into other neighboring languages; cf. Ukrainian jafina ‘id”’, Polish iafira ‘id’, Transylvanian Saxon afunie ‘id’. There is no doubt that Hungarianafonya is a loanword from Romanian as well. Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: afină, afiniş, afinată.

aflạ (Aromanian aflu, Istro-Romanian oflu) (vb., I) – 1. to find out, to come up with; 2. to hear, to learn.

Latin afflare ‘to breathe’ (Puşcariu, 34; Candrea-Densusianu, 19; REW, 261; Cioranescu, 114). There are similar forms in other Romance languages; cf. Veglioteaflatura, Calabrian ahhare, Spanish haller ‘to find’, Portuguese achar ‘id’, Romansch afla ‘id’.

The meaning of Latin afflare is completely different, therefore, it cannot be the etymon of Romance forms which seems to be of Pre-Roman origin.

Schuchardt (ZRPh., 20, 536) believes that there was a meaning deviation of the expression of mihi afflatur ‘one whispered to me’. Later on, he came up with another hypothesis (ZRPh, 31, 719; 32, 230), arguing that the meaning in Romance languages derives from the hunting jargon, namely the hound ‘find out’ by smelling (by breathing) the prey. I cannnot accept such an “explanation” even if it comes from one of the greatest linguists such as Hugo Schuchardt. Corominas (3, 308) derives Spanich hallar ‘to find’ < Old Spanish falar. from Latin afflare.

A similar verb is found in Medio-Greek άλφειν ‘to search, to look for’, which made Cihac (2, 633) to believe that Romanian a afla is of Greek origin. The Medio-Greek verb may be a loanword from Late Thraco-Dacian or from Proto-Romanian, since it is not attested in ancient Greek. It seems to be of Pre-Roman origin.

Derivatives: aflare, aflător.

afurisị (Aromanian afurisire, Megleno-Romanian furisit) (vb., I) – 1. to excommunicate, to anathemize; 2. to curse, to damn.

Medio-Greek αφορίζω, aorist αφόρισα ‘id’ (Roesler, 565; Cioranescu, 117); cf. Bulgarian afurisati, Turkish aforoz. From Romanian it was borrowed into Transylvanian Saxon afurisin ‘to curse’.

Derivatives: afurisenie, afurisit.

agạle (Aromanian agale) (adv.) – slowly, step by step.

Neo-Greek αγαλία ‘slowly’ (Meyer, Neugr. St., 4, 6, Gáldi, 141; Cioranescu, 120), which, according to these authors, derives from Italian uguale. Italian ugualemeans ‘equal, same’ and, therefore, cannot be the etymon of these Balkanic forms. There is a similar form with the same meaning in Albanian ngadalë ‘slowly’ which cannot be a loanword from Neo-Greek. Neo-Greek borrowed it from Aromanian. Thraco-Illyrian origin.

agă (n., masc.) (obs.) – 1. high rank military officer in Turkish army.

Turkish aga ‘id’ (Roesler, 587; Şăineanu, II, 10; Cioranescu, 118).

Derivatives: agie (obs.) ‘police headquarters’.

ageamịu (Aromanian ağami, Megleno-Romanian ağamiia) (adj.) – ignorant, incapable.

Turkish acemi < Arabic ağam ‘Barbarian’ (Şăineanu, II, 12; Cioranescu, 125); cf. Neo-Greek ατζαμής, Bulgarian ağamija.

ạger – 1. keen, penetrating; 2. active, industrious.

Latin agilis ‘agile’ (Cipariu, Gram., II, 344; Puşcariu, 37; Candrea-Densusianu, 19; REW, 230).

Turkish acar (pron. agear) ‘industrious, keen, penetratating’ seems to be a loanword from Romanian.

Derivatives: a ageri, agerime.

aghiạsmă (variant aiazmă, Aromanian agiazma, Megleno-Romanian ghiasmá) (n., fem.) – holy water.

Medio-Greek αγίασμα ‘id’ (Cioranescu, 129); cf. Albanian ajazmë ‘id’, Bulgarian agiazma ‘id’

Derivatives: a aghesmui ‘to sprinkle with holy water’, aghiazmatar ‘vessel for holy water’.

agâmbạ (vb., I) (dial.) – to hunt, to trample.

Latin gamba (Philippide, II, 643) or from Latin *aggambare (REW, 1529; DAR). Both hypotheses are rejected by Cioranescu (131). He considers it of unknown origin, especially because these “etymons” cannot explain forms such as agâmbeală ‘epilepsy’ and agâmbat ‘poor, unhappy person’.

Romanian agâmba seems to derive from PIE *gheubh– ‘to curb, to bend’ (Walde, I, 597; IEW, 450) with the epenthesis of m, a frequent phonological phenomenon in Romanian. Similar forms are found in some other neighboring Indo-European languages; cf. Latvian gubtu, gubt ‘to bend, to curb’, Lithuaniangeibus ‘weak’, Greek κυφος ‘curbed, bend’ (see gheb). Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: agâmbeală, agâmbat.

agina (vb., I) (reg., Olt.) – to cease, to stop.

It seems to be a compound form a verbal root gin– prefixed with the preposition a. I could not identify any cognate in other Indo-European languages. Unknown origin.

agonisị (Aromanain agunisescu, Megleno-Romanian angunesés) (vb., IV) – 1. to work hard, to toil (obs.); 2. to gain; 3. to save.

Medio-Greek αγονίζομαι ‘to fight’ (Roesler, 563; DAR; Cioranescu, 134).

Derivatives: agoniseală, agonisită, agonisitor.

agrịş (n., masc.) – gooseberry bush (Ribes grossularia), barberry bush (Berberis vulagre).

Hungarian egres ‘gooseberry’ (Gáldi, 82; Cioranescu, 136), itself from MHG agras < Old French aigras < Latin acrus (cf. Cioranescu).

Berneker (2, 5) argues that OCS agres, Czech agrest, Polish agrest are deriving from Italian agresto ‘unripe grapes’. According to Miklosich (Fremdw., 73), Albanaian grestë as well as Serbian greš, ogrešta derive from Italian as well; cf. Russian agrest, agrus ‘agriş’. According to Vasmer (I, 5) the Russian forms are borrowed from Polish, Ukrainian agrest, which is also borrowed from Italian agresto.

The forms presented above do not seem to derive from the same source, namely some of them may derive from Italian and others from Romanian. Italian agrestoseems to be cognate with Romnian aguridă ‘wild grapes’ found in Albanian as well. It is obvious that Latin acrus ‘sour’ and Romanian agriş derive from the same root. There are in Romanian other lexical elements deriving from the same root: acriş (dial.) ‘yoghurt’ and măcriş (variant macriş) ‘sorrel’ due to their taste. Hungarian egres is a loanword from Romanian (see acru ‘sour’, aguridă ‘wild grapes’).

Derivatives: agrişă.

ạgru (dial.) (Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian agru) (n., neut.) – field.

Latin agrum (acc. of ager „field”) (Puşcariu, 38; Candrea-Densusianu, 21; REW, 276). Latin ager derives from PIE *ag’ro–s (Walde, 1, 22). The root has derivatives in many Indo-European languages: cf. Umbrian ager ‘id’, Sanskrit ajrah ‘id’, Greek αγρός ‘id’, Gothic akrs ‘id’, OHG ackar „id”, NHG Acker ‘id’. The form agru is used only in some dialects, including Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian. The usual form in today’s Daco-Romanian is ogor (see ogor).

agụdă (n., fem.) – mullberry.

OCS *agoda (Hasdeu, 534). The Old Church Slavonic *agoda is not attested, but it was reconstructed from Serbian jagoda ‘wild strawberry’ and therefore the hypothesis cannot be accepted, since one does not know what the origin of Serbian jagoda is. On the other hand, Romanian agudă cannot derive from Serbianjagoda, which would give in Romanian *iagodă.

Romanian agudă derives from the same root as agriş and aguridă (see agriş, aguridă), due to their sour taste (see acru).

agurạ (vb., I) (obs., dial.) – to predict, to forecast.

Latin a(u)gurare (Densusianu, Rom., 28, 61; Puşcariu, 39; Candrea-Densusianu, 23, REW, 784; DAR; Cioranescu, 139). The word is preserved in western Transylvania, only.

Cioranescu rejects Pascu’s hypothesis (1, 178) that Aromanian ugure ‘prophecy’ is not inherited, but a loanword from Turkish which borrowed it from Neo-Greek γουρί < Latin augurium. Latin origin.

agurịdă (variant acrid (obs.), Aromanian aguridă, Megleno-Romanian guridă) (n., fem.) – wild vine, wild grapes.

Medio-Greek αγουρίδα from άγουρος ‘green’ (Miklosich, Fremdw. 73; Cioranescu, 140); cf. Albanian aguridhë ‘id’, Bulgarian agurida ‘id’. The Medio-Greek forms invoked by Miklosich are not attested in this language (cf. Lampe). The variant acrid is a derivative of acru ‘sour’. It must be of Thraco-Illyrian origin, being present in Albanian and Bulgarian as well. It is related to agudă (see acru, agudă).

Derivatives: agurijoară „rose moss” (Portulaca grandifora).

ạgust (variants gust, gustar, agustru, Aromanian avgustu, Megleno-Romanian avgust) (n., masc.) – the month of August.

Vulgar Latin *agustus (Puşcariu, 40; Candrea-Densusianu, 24; REW, 786); cf. Albanian gusht ‘id’. Present day form august is a modern adaptation dating form 19th century.

ah (variant a, aha) (interj.) – an interjection expressing pain.

The variants a and aha are expressing surprise or satisfaction. According Cioranescu (142), it is an imitative formation; cf. Sanskrit aho ‘interjection expressing as surprise or pain’. Both may be associates with PIE *ā ‘exclamation expressing wonder’ (IEW, 1) (see a¹).

ai (Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian al’u, Istro-Romanian ol’u) (dial.) (n., masc.) – garlic.

Latin alium ‘garlic’ (Puşcariu, 47; Candrea-Densusianu; REW, 366; Cioranescu, 145). The root is found in Albanian and Sanskrit as well. cf. Albanian aj ‘id’, Sanskrit alu–h, alukam ‘root, bulb’.

All these forms derive from PIE *alu-, alō– ‘plant, bitter bulb’ (IEW, 33). Romanian ai is used only in some dialects of Transylvania of Daco-Romanian and in the Balkan dialects.

aicị (variant aci, Aromanian aoá, aţia ‘there’) (adv.) – here.

Latin *eccum–hic (Puşcariu, 12; Candrea-Densusianu, 8; REW, 4129). Panromanic. Similar forms are found in other Indo-European languages of different groups; cf. Umbrian essu, Oscan eks-, uk, Lithuanian čia ‘here’, and Sanskrit iha ‘here’. The particle a– is a deictic prefix, as in other Romanian words (see a³, acolo, acel).

Derivatives: acilea ‘id’ (cf. acolea).

aịdoma (adv.) – 1. same, identical; 2. real, indeed.

OCS vidomŭ ‘visible’ < OCS videti ‘to see’, which turned in Romanian into an adverb having added a prothetic a (Cihac, 2, 2; Cioranescu, 149).

The Old Church Slavonic etymon invoked by Cihac is not attested (cf. Djačenko). On the other hand, this hypothesis cannot explain the initial a. However, similar forms are found in Sanskrit and Lithuanian; cf. Sanskrit aviš ‘open before one’s eyes’, Lithuanian avytis ‘which can be seen’.

Obviously, all these froms are derivatives of the PIE *ụedi– „to see, to perceive” (IEW, 1125) (see vedea ‘to see’).

aieptạ (vb., I) – 1. to throw oneself forward; 2. to adjust, to smooth.

Vulgar Latin *aiectare from Latin eiectare ‘to throw’ (Puşcariu, 42; Candrea-Densusianu, 27; Cioranescu, 151). Diculescu (Elementele, 463) is dubious about this hypothesis and, instead he thinks that it derives from Greek ιάκτω ‘to throw’. Diculescu’s hypothesis seems to be more plausible, but the correct Greek form isίάπτω, which according to Boisaque (364), derives from PIE *(ii)-iaqŭ–io. Boisaque considers it of obscure origin, a loanword in ancient Greek, and according to him is cognate to Latin jacio ‘to throw’. It seems that the Greek verb is of Thracian or Illyrian origin, where PIE *kʷ turned into a p in these languages. (seecuptor ‘oven’, noapte ‘night’). With the second meaning, it seems to be a different verb all together. It seems to be of Thraco-Dacian origin.

aiẹvea (Aromanian aevea, naevea) (adv.) – 1. real, which looks real; 2. truly, indeed.

OCS javiti ‘to show, to present’ (Cihac, 2, 153; Berneker, 34; Cioranescu, 152); cf. OCS ave ‘obvious’ (Berneker, 2, 34) which seems to be a cognate to Romanian aievea.

I have to mention that the etymon invoked by Cihac is not attested (cf. Blagova, Djačenko). Cihac associates it with a a ivi ‘o appear, to show’. On the other hand, Romanian aievea has a cognate in Lithuanian ovijus, ovitis ‘to appear in a dream’ (see ivi).

aiụrea (Aromanian al’urea, Megleno-Romanian l’urea, Istro-Romanian al’ure) (adv.) – 1. elsewhere, somewhere, far away; 2. randomly, which does not make sense.

Latin aliubi ‘other, another, someone else, something else’ (Creţu, 305; Candrea-Densusianu, 29; Cioranescu, 155); cf. French ailleurs, Old Spanish alubre, Portuguese alhur. The meaning of Latin aliubi is different and it makes difficult to be the etymon of Romanian aiurea. Furthermore, it is not the right etymon for the Romance languages forms, but a Vulgar Latin *aliore (REW, 347; Gamillscheg, 21), although Cioranescu (155) disagrees arguing that the etymon of Romanian aiurea is Latin *(vo)let, but his hypothesis does not make any sense.

Similar forms with the same meaning are found in some Geramnic languages; cf. Gothic aljar ‘elesewhere, somewhere’, Old English ellor, Old Norse ellior‘elsewhere’.

Schmidt (1962, 70; cf. Lehmann, 28) argues that the Germanic forms derive from a Proto-Germanic *aljōr, which is (almost) identical to the Vulgar Latinaliorewhich is considered to be the etymon of the Romance forms. In other words, the so-called Vulgar Latin form is rather a Pre-Roman etymon.

Derivatives: a aiura, aiurit, aiureală.

ajụn (Aromanian agiun „to be hungry”) (n., neut.) – 1. the day before a certain event or before a certain period of time starts; 2. a day of fasting.

Vulgar Latin *aiunare < ieiunum ‘fast’ (Meyer, Alb. St., 4, 88; Philippide, 2, 645). Cognates are found in Spanish ayunar, French à jeun < ajeun), as well as Albanian agjenoj ‘to fast’. According to Corominas (1, 428), Spanish ayuno derives from a Vulgar Latin *iaiunus.

Walde-Hoffmann (1, 674) shows that Latin ieiunum derives from PIE *edi–unos ‘deprived of food’, or from *ieiu–s, *iaiu– ‘hunger’; cf. skt. adjunah „vorace, lacom”. On the other hand, Glare (821) considers Latin ieiunum of unknown origin.

Derivatives: a ajuna, ajunare.

ajụnge (Aromanian agiung, Megleno-Romanian jung) (vb., III) – 1. to arrive; 2. catch up, to reach (a destination).

Latin adiungere ‘to join, to glue’ (Puşcariu, 50; Candrea-Densusianu, 33; Cioranescu, 158). Panromanic.

Derivatives: ajungere, ajuns.

ajutạ (Aromanian agiut, Megleno-Romanian jut, Istro-Romanian (a)jut) (vb. I) – to help.

Latin adiutare ‘to help’ (Puşcariu, 51; Candrea-Densusianu, 33; REW, 171; Cioranescu, 160); cf. Italian ajutare, Provensal ajudar, Spanish ayudar.

Derivatives: ajutor, ajutător, ajutare, a ajutora, ajutorare.

al (art., masc.) – genitival article.

It is a compound form from the preposition a and the definite article l < (ă)l. It is used in genitive case. It is not the same with ăl, ăla ‘that’ as all Romanian dictionaries and grammars maintain (see ăl, ăla, acela).

Derivatives: a, ai, ale, alor.

alạc (n., masc.) – wheat variety which grows in mountainous regions.

Hungarian alakor ‘id’ (Cihac, 2, 475; Densusianu, Rom. 33, 273; Gáldi, 140). Cihac believes that Hungarian alakor derives from Latin alica ‘id’, but he gives no other details. Cioranescu (166) considers it of obscure origin. Corominas (1, 75) derives Spanish alaga from Latin *alaca; cf. Albanian lakër ‘greenstuff’. Romanian alac is a cognate of Spanish alaga, but they do not derive from the same Vulgar Latin form.

According to Walde (1, 29), Latin alica derives from Greek άλιξ (gen. άλικος), with the same meaning. One reason that these authors do not consider Romanianalac to be of Latin origin is the fact that intervocalic l did not undergo rhotacism, but there are other exceptions to this rule (see bălan). Since the form is present in Greek, it may have existed in Thraco-Dacian as well. Despite of what Romanian linguists were saying Edelspacher (8) shows that Hungarian alakor derives from Romanain alac.

alại (Aromanian alae) (n., neut.) – pump, show.

Turkish alay (Şăineanu, 2, 4; Roesler, 561, Cioranescu, 16); cf. Neo-Greek αλάι, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian alay.

alạmă (Aromanian malamă „gold”) (n., fem.) – 1. brass; 2. brass objects.

Neo-Greek μαλάμα ‘gold’ (Cioranescu, 171); cf. Albanian malamë ‘gold’. The elision of initial m in Romanian is due the association of this form with aramă‘copper’.

Derivatives: a alămi, alămar, alămărie.

alandạla (adv.) – 1. wrong, upside down; 2. in disorder, mell-pell.

Neo-Greek άλλ’αντ’άλλον ‘one in the place of the other’ (Philippine, Principii, 146; DAR; Gáldi, Les mots, 142; Cioranescu, 173).

alặturi (variant alăturea) (adv.) – beside, next to.

Latin *ad latera (REW, 4934; Cioranescu, 175).

Latin *latera has no attestation, only lateralis < latus ‘wide’. There are no similar forms in other Romance languages. Therefore, we should consider it as a compound from a(d) ‘at’ lături (plural of latură) (see latură).

Derivatives: a alătura, a înlătura.

alb (Aromanian albu, Megleno-Romanian alb) (adj.) – white.

Latin albus ‘white’ (Puşcariu, 55; Candrea-Densusianu, 36; REW, 331; Cioranescu, 176). The root is attested also in some Dacian and Thracian place-names such as Apulum (see Apulum) and personal names such as Albos (Proklou) (Samsaris, in Noi, Tracii, 24, 1991). It it found in a number of other Indo-European languages: cf. Hittite alpa–as ‘clouds’, ali ‘white’, Greek αλφός ‘id’, Umbrian alfu ‘id’, Welsh elfydd ‘id’, OHG albiz, Gallo-Roman Albion ‘Brittania’, Middle Irish Albbu ‘Brittania’, Scottish Alba ‘Scotland’, Lithuanian alvas ‘white’, all from PIE *albho– ‘white’ (IEW, 30). We may consider it of Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: a albi, albeaţă, albitură, albeţe, albicios, albinos, albineţ, albişor, a înălbi, înălbeală etc.

albạstru (Aromanian albastru ‘grey’) (adj.) – blue.

Latin *albaster < albus ‘white’ (Puşcariu, 56; Candrea-Densusianu, 37; REW, 319; Cioranescu, 177). The hypothesis cannot be accepted since there is no attestation of the putative Latin etymon and there no cognates in other Romance languages. Romanina albastru is a derivative of alb which probably meant initially ‘grey’ as in today’s Aromanian (see alb).

Derivatives: a albăstri, albăstrea, albăstreală, albăstriu, a înălbăstri etc.

ạlbie – (n., fem.) – 1. river bed, channel ; 2. (washing) trough, tub.

Latin *alvea (Puşcariu, 58; Candrea-Densusianu, 43; REW, 320; Cioranescu, 178). Latin alveus ‘washing tub’ > Spanish alveo which is a masculine noun as in Latin, while Romanian albie is of feminine gender. There are no feminine cognates in other Romance languages. However, there are cognates in Scandinavian and Baltic languages; cf. Old Norse alda ‘wave’, Norwegian (dial.) olda ‘trough’, Old English aldot, aldaht ‘trough, tub, vat’, Lithuanain aldjia ‘river bed’, which are of feminine gender as Romanian albie. All derive from from PIE *aldh– ‘trough, tub’ (IEW, 31). Romanian albie is closer, as meaning and form, to Lithuanianaldjia; cf. Latin alveus ‘hollow, basket, bed’.

In Thraco-Dacian, the (aspirated or non-aspirated) PIE voiced dental *d(h), preceded by a lateral (l, r) turned into b as in vorbă ‘word’ (cf. Latin verbum) (seevorbă). Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: albiuţă, albioară.

albịnă (Aromanian alg’ină) (n., fem.) – bee (Ophris cornuta).

Latin *alvina < alveus ‘hollow, basket, bed’ (Puşcariu, 59; Candrea-Densusianu, 48; REW, 389; Cioranescu, 179). The hypothesis cannot be accepted. First of all, the meaning of Romanian albină has nothing to do with Latin alveus or *alvina. On the other hand, Latin *alvina has no attestation and there are no other Romance forms to derive from this Vulgar Latin etymon. According to these authors, Romanian albie derives from the same Latin alveus (see albie) which does not make any sense. Latin apis ‘bee’ is cognate of Romanian albină, but this Romanian noun cannot derive from Latin apis. They both, along with many other Indo-European languages forms, derive from PIE *bhei– ‘bee”, with the formants n, k, t (IEW, 116). The root is preserved in many Indo-European languages; cf. OHG bini „bee”, Albanian bletë „id”, Lithuanian bité „id”, Old Prussian bité „id’, Old Irish bech ‘id’, OCS bičela ‘id’.

On the other hand, Walde (1, 57) associates Latin apis with Gallo-Roman amella < *ampella, Greek έμπις ‘mosquito’, Farsi ang ‘bee’ and Basque abia‘mosquito, a biting insect’. Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: albinar, albinărel ‘a bird’, albinărie, albinărit.

alcătuị (vb., IV) – to put together.

Hungarian alkot–ni ‘to create, to procreate’ (Cihac, 2, 475; Cioranescu, 183). The putative Hungarian etymon has a different meaning and therefore, it cannot be accepted.

On the other hand, Romanian alcătui seems to have a cognate in Sanskrit šlok, šlokate ‘to compose, to be composed’. From the Romanian and Sanskrit forms one may reconstruct a PIE *olk–at– ‘to put together, to gather’. It seems to be of Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: alcătuire, alcătuială, alcătuitor.

ạlde (art.) – a indefinite article meaning ‘of the kind of, people such as’.

It is a compound form from the demonstrative pronoun ăl and the preposition de (cf. Cioranescu, 163) (see ăl and de).

aleạn (adj., neut.) – 1. longing, yearning; 2. nostalgia, melancholy; 3. suffering, sorrow, grief.

OCS alinŭ ‘treacherous, perfidious’ (Cihac, II, 2) or Hungarian ellén ‘against’ (Cioranescu, 1869).

None of these two hypotheses can be accepted. OCS alinŭ is an adjecitve and it has a different meaning, while Hungarian ellén is a preposition while Romanianalean is a noun, but Cioranescu disregards this detail.

I think that Romanian alean may be associated with PIE *leno– ‘weak, soft’; cf. Greek λιναμαι ‘to avoid, to shun’, Gothic af–linnan ‘to empty, to leave’, Gothicbi-linnan ‘to yield, to finish’, Old Irish linna ‘to slow down’, Middle Irish lian ‘soft’.There are other related forms in Romanan (cf. alina, alinta, lin). All derive from the same Proto-Indo-European root.

alẹge (Aromanian aleg, aleadzire (alepşu, aleaptă)) (vb., III) – 1. to choose; 2. to select, to separate.

Latin *allegere (Puşcariu, 60; REW, 364). This Vulgar Latin etymon has no attestation and there are no cognates in other Romance languages deriving from this putative etymon. Obviously, Romanian alege is related to Latin eligere ‘choose, to select’, but their relationship is not clear.

Romanian alege and Latin eligere derive from PIE *leg-, leg’- ‘to gather’; cf. Latin lego, –ere ‘to gather, to select’, Greek λέγω ‘to gather, to count, to read’, Albanian mb–leth ‘to gather’ (see culege ‘to gather’).

Derivatives: alegere, alegător.

alẹi (variant alelei, Aromanian alai) (interj.) – an exclamation (before an invocation) expressing anger, enthusiasm or regret.

Suidas says that eleleu was ‘a war cry’ (cf. Cioranescu, 189); cf. Bulgarian olele.

PIE *alā ‘interjection used to attract someone’s attention’ (IEW, 29); cf. Sanskrit alala, Greek αλαλά, αλαλαί ‘hoorah’, Greek ελελεΰ ‘war cry, interjection expressing pain’, Old English hallo, halloo ‘hello’, Lithuanian aluoti ‘to cry hallo’. Thrace-Dacian origin.

alergạ (Aromanian alag, Megleno-Romanian lag) (vb., I) – 1. run, to rush; 2. to be busy.

Latin *allargare from largus (Philippide, II, 539; Puşcariu, 61; Candrea-Densusianu, 952; REW, 352). Instead, Cioranescu (192) considers it of uncertain origin. The Latin etymon has no attestation and largus ‘wide’ has a totally different meaning. There no cognates in the other Romanace languages.

On the other hand, Albanian ljargon ‘to leave, to separate’ and largo ‘to move’ seem to be cognates of Romanian alerga.

The forms in both Romanian and Albanian seem to derive from PIE *leg– ‘to run (about water), to leak, to melt’ (IEW, 659); cf. Old Irish legaim (I, sg.) ‘to leak, to melt’, Old Icelandic lekr ‘leak’, MHG lecken ‘spring, river’, Armenaina lič ‘swamp’, Lithuanian lekti ‘to run, to run away’.

One may see that in the Romanian Balkan dialects the verb does not have the lateral r, as in most other Indo-European languages. Therefore, the original form was *alagare, *alegare, not *allargare. Thraco-Illyrian origin.

Derivatives: alergare, alergător, alergătură, alergat.

alică (variant alic, Aromanian hăliche) (n., fem.) – pellet.

Neo-Greek χαλίκι ‘pebble’ (DAR; Cioranescu, 198); cf. Albanian halič.

alifịe (Aromanian alfie) (n., fem.) – ointment, salve, unguent.

Neo-Greek αλουφή ‘id’ (Roesler, 564; Cioranescu, 200).

alinạ (vb., I) – 1. to temper, to mitigate, to allievate; 2. to appease, to soothe.

Latin *allenare (Puşcariu, 62; Candrea-Densusianu, 989; Rosetti, 1, 79).

The Latin etymon has no attestation, while Sardinian allenare ‘to teach, to instrucrt, to train’ is not a cognate since it has a totally different meaning. It is related tolin and alinta, all from PIE *leno– ‘weak, soft’ (IEW, 667) (see alinta, lin). Thraco-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: alinare, alinat, alinător, alinătură.

alintạ (vb., I) – 1. to caress, to fondle; 2. to spoil; 3. to frolic.

Latin *allentare < lenis ‘soft, smooth, gentle, calm’ (Candrea-Densusianu, 990) or from Latin lentus ‘slow, flexible’ (Puşcariu, 64; REW, 257). Italian allentare ‘to loosen, to relax’ and Romanian alinta do not seem to derive from a common Vulgar Latin etymon. This verb is related to a alina from the same PIE root *leno– ‘weak, soft’ (IEW, 667) (see alina, lin, lene, linişte). Thabo-Dacian origin.

Derivatives: alint, alintare, alintătură, alintător.

alişverịş (Aromanian alişverişe, Megleno-Romanian alişvăroş) (obs.) (n., neut.) – commerce, trade, business.

Turkish alişveriş < alıs ‘gift’ and verıs ‘to take’ (Roesler, 587; Şăineanu, 2, 17; Cioranescu, 209); cf. Neo-Greek αλισβερίσι, Albanian alishverish, Bulgarianališveriš.

alt (Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian altu, Istro-Romanian ot) (pron.) – other.

Latin *altru < alter ‘other’ (Puşcariu, 67; Candrea-Densusianu., 48; REW, 382). Panromanic; cf. Sardianian altu ‘other’. The root is found in other Indo-European languages; cf. Oscan allo, altram, Greek άλλος ‘other’, Welsh aile ‘id’, Breton all ‘id’, Lithuanian autra (adv.) ‘secondly’, Armenian ail ‘other’. All these forms derive PIE *alio–s ‘other’ (IEW, 25; Walde, 1, 30).

altạr (Aromanian altar, altare) (n., neut.) – altar.

Latin *altarium ‘altar’ (Puşcariu, 68; Candrea-Densusianu, 49; REW, 381); Panromanic; cf. A