DEX: the definition
„An elderly person” — but also father, mother, parents, in familiar speech.
The etymology, in the dictionary's words: „Lat. betranus (= veteranus)” — Latin, through the popular form.
VETERANUS
FROM LATIN, TWICE
Where does Romanian bătrân come from? From Latin veteranus
One Latin word reached Romanian twice: as bătrân (old, elderly; an old person) and as veteran. But veteranus was not only the Roman soldier — it could be an old ox, an old vine or a slave: anyone and anything „tried by years”.
- 2
- Romanian words from one Latin word: bătrân (inherited) and veteran (a learned neologism)
- 6
- kinds of veteranus in Latin: from the tried soldier to the grapevine
How veteranus becomes bătrân:
BĂTRÂN
veteranus, „old, tried” — through the popular form *betranus (starred as reconstructed) — down to bătrân.
The star (*) marks a form reconstructed by linguists, not directly attested as such.
One root, three Romanian words:
- bătrân (inherited)
- veteran (neologism)
- vechi (from vetulus)
„Bătrân” comes from Latin veteranus, through the popular form *betranus (DEX, DER). In Latin, veteranus was the adjective for „old, tried” — soldier, ox, vine or slave, says Lewis & Short. Modern veteran re-entered by the learned road, from French and Latin — the same Latin word, a second time.
What the dictionaries say
Where does the word „bătrân” come from?
Open the dictionary at bătrân and you find Latin veteranus, through the popular form betranus, from vetus — old. About the sense, though, the dictionaries tell slightly different stories.
Scriban: the popular road
Scriban spells out the line: Latin veteranus, popular vetranus and betranus, from vetus, veteris — old.
DER: the old sense comes first
The Romanian Etymological Dictionary gives Latin vĕtĕrānus and notes plainly: the „old/elderly” sense belongs to Latin proper and predates the military use. The syncopated form vetranus is attested in Latin.
CIORĂNESCU
The Romance cousins
DER lists the cognate forms — proof that the „old” sense runs through the whole Romance world, not just ours:
- bitărnu (Aromanian)
- bitǫra (Megleno-Romanian)
- betăr (Istro-Romanian)
- vetrun (Vegliot)
- vedran (Friulian)
- vedrano (Old Triestine)
- vetrano (Old Venetian)
Three readings, one etymology
Șăineanu reads veteranus as „old soldier”, its sense generalized already in Vulgar Latin. DER holds the „old” sense to predate the military one. Cristian Mihail (Dacoromania, 2010) sees bătrân as a military-milieu metonymy, from veteranus „the veteran”. The etymology — bătrân < veteranus — is certain. The film of the senses stays open.
DEX veteran: the twin
„A Roman soldier discharged after his military service, receiving a series of privileges at discharge.”
The etymology: „From French vétéran, Latin veteranus” — French and Latin together. DN and MDN list it among the neologisms; NODEX puts Latin first: „lat. veteranus, fr. vétéran”.
NEOLOGISM
The cousin: vechi comes from popular Latin veclus (= vetulus) — the same root, vetus.
Two literary witnesses
DLRLC illustrates the sense with verses. Both stay quoted after the dictionary:
Sînt grei bătrînii de pornit,
Dar de-i pornești sînt grei de-oprit.
George Coșbuc, quoted after DLRLC
QUOTED AFTER DLRLC
…își făcea cuib de mulți ani într-un tei foarte bătrîn.
Ion Creangă, quoted after DLRLC
QUOTED AFTER DLRLC
2 Romanian lives for one Latin word: bătrân and veteran.
The big surprise
What could be veteranus?
Lewis & Short give it as an adjective — „old, veteran” — and attach it in turn to people, animals and plants. Play before you read on: could it be called veteranus?
Latin card 1 of 6
An old, tried soldier
Could it be called veteranus?
Latin card 2 of 6
An ox
Could it be called veteranus?
Latin card 3 of 6
A hen
Could it be called veteranus?
Latin card 4 of 6
A grapevine
Could it be called veteranus?
Latin card 5 of 6
A slave
Could it be called veteranus?
Latin card 6 of 6
An old enemy
Could it be called veteranus?
All of them.
Six out of six. In Latin, veteranus described anything old, tried, or long in use — and the list does not stop here: Columella also calls the flock veteranus (pecus, 6, 2, 9).
The full entry, with every citation: Lewis & Short, through Perseus.
The map of the word
One Latin word, two Romanian lives
VETERANUS split into two roads: the popular one, inherited sense and all, and the learned one, returned by the book, almost unchanged.
VETERANUS
„old, tried” — Lewis & Short
The popular road: bătrân
- VETERANUSthe Latin adjective: old, tried
- VETRANUS · *BETRANUSpopular forms — Scriban; * = reconstructed — CADE
- BĂTRÂNthe old person — DEX
DER: the syncopated vetranus is attested in Latin; the exact chain down to bătrân is a historical reconstruction, not a row of inscriptions.
The learned road: veteran
- VETERANUSthe same Latin word
- VÉTÉRAN · VETERANUSFrench and learned Latin — DEX
- VETERANthe neologism — DN
A learned re-entry: DEX gives „from French vétéran, Latin veteranus”, and NODEX puts Latin first.
The star (*) marks a reconstructed form, not directly attested. Both roads start from the same word; they do not show a single letter-by-letter change.
The man in uniform
The soldier and the bronze tablet
One of the senses of veteranus lived in the army: the old, tried soldier. His world had an extraordinary object — the bronze military diploma. But the diploma was no universal veteran's passport.
The term: the old soldier
Lewis & Short: „miles veteranus” — the old, tried soldier. DEX keeps the military sense for modern veteran: the discharged Roman soldier, then any former combatant, then anyone tried in a trade.
The institution: who got a diploma
Diplomas recorded Roman citizenship and the right of legal marriage (conubium) for veterans of the auxilia, the fleets and the Praetorian Guard — men not born citizens. Ordinary legionaries were already citizens and did not normally receive such diplomas. Roman Inscriptions of Britain notes that diplomas were not discharge certificates.
The object: the diploma of Dasmenus
The Metropolitan Museum piece (ca. 149 CE) belonged to the auxiliary Dasmenus Azalus: two bronze tablets fastened with twisted wire, officially sealed, with the seven witnesses' names on the back of the second.
The object record at the Met · The RIB introduction to diplomata
Read the object
- The witnesses' namesThe seven witnesses authenticating the copy — on the back of the second tablet, in the photograph.
- The text of the lawCopies of an imperial constitutio: on the inner faces and on the front of the first tablet.
- The holes and the wireTwo central holes for the twisted wire; the witnesses' seals, impressed on the wire, are lost.
- What it is notNot the proof of the etymology of bătrân, nor the universal veteran's certificate — the proof of the world in which one of the senses of veteranus worked.
Epilogue
And today: veteran or bătrân?
Six cards from today's Romanian. Sort them into camps: bătrân, veteran, or both.
Card 1 of 6
An 80-year-old grandpa
Card 2 of 6
A discharged Roman soldier, with privileges
Card 3 of 6
A ten-year-old plum brandy
Card 4 of 6
A fourth-year student
Card 5 of 6
Mircea the Elder
Card 6 of 6
A 70-year-old soldier, back from war
Three common mistakes
Myths
„Veteran is an old Romanian word.”
It is a learned neologism (DN, MDN): DEX gives „from French vétéran, Latin veteranus”. The old, inherited one is bătrân.
„Bătrân comes from a soldier who had finished his service.”
The etymology — bătrân < veteranus — is certain. But veteranus was the adjective „old, tried”, and DER holds the „old” sense to predate the military one. No certain film runs from soldier to grandpa.
„Every veteran received a bronze diploma.”
Diplomas went to the auxilia, the fleets and the Guard — those granted citizenship at discharge. Legionaries were already citizens (RIB).
Sources
Dictionaries first, then Latin, then the object. Every risky claim points at its source.
| C01 | Bătrân < Latin betranus (= veteranus); old person, old thing, parents. | DEX '09/'98 | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| C02 | The popular road: veteranus → vetranus and betranus < vetus, veteris. | Scriban | Scriban |
| C03 | VETERANUS = old soldier; sense generalized in Vulgar Latin — one position. | Șăineanu | Șăineanu |
| C04 | Latin vĕtĕrānus; the „old/elderly” sense proper to Latin, predating the military one. | DER | DER |
| C05 | Bătrân < Vulgar Latin *betranus < veteranus — * = reconstructed form. | CADE | CADE |
| C06 | Veteranus, an „old, veteran” adjective: oxen, flocks, hens, vine, slaves, foe. | Lewis & Short | Lewis |
| C07 | Veteran < French vétéran + Latin veteranus; discharged Roman soldier; neologism. | DEX, DN, MDN | DEX |
| C08 | The Met diploma, ca. 149: Dasmenus Azalus, the auxilia, 25 years, citizenship + conubium. | Met, Vroma | Met |
| C09 | Diplomas were not discharge certificates; auxilia/fleets/Guard; 7 witnesses. | RIB | RIB |
| C10 | Witnesses: Coșbuc, Creangă; the „cel Bătrân” epithet; old brandy. | DLRLC | DLRLC |
| C11 | Senior students = “bătrâni”, against the “boboci” freshmen. | DEXI | DEXI |
| C12 | Vechi < popular Latin veclus (= vetulus). | DEX | DEX |
| C13 | Bătrân < veteranus „the veteran”, a military-milieu metonymy — the other reading. | Dacoromania | Dacoromania |
What we know for certain
- Bătrân continues Latin veteranus (DEX, DER, CADE).
- Veteranus had military and non-military uses in Latin (Lewis & Short).
- The „old” sense runs through the whole Romance world: Aromanian, Megleno- and Istro-Romanian, and the west (DER).
- Veteran is a separate learned re-entry, not the same thread continued (DEX, DN).
What stays open
- The film of the senses: generalization from „soldier” (Șăineanu), an older „old” sense (DER), or a military metonymy (Mihail)?
- The exact moment the senses parted in Latin.
- Where and when the word entered Romanian — no source says.
- The year veteran entered by the learned road — the dictionaries do not give it.
The Romanian dictionaries are read in dexonline's transcriptions of the printed editions, with the edition and year on every row. Latin comes from Lewis & Short, through Perseus; the diploma from the Metropolitan Museum and Roman Inscriptions of Britain. The literary quotes stay after DLRLC. Renderings: Marius Comper.
That was the farewell that prays — adio. This is the word that grew old twice. adio