Romanian words and phrases

Conducător (, meaning 'Leader') was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu.

Prince Domnitor, in full Principe Domnitor (Romanian pl. Principi Domnitori) was the official title of the ruler of Romania between 1862 and 1881. It was usually translated as "prince regnant" in English and most other languages, and less often as "grand duke". "Domnitor" is an adjective derived from the Romanian word "domn" (lord or ruler) and, in turn, from the Latin "Dominus". The title Domn had been in use since the Middle Ages and it is also the Romanian equivalent to the Slavic Hospodar. Moldavian and Wallachian rulers had used this term for their title of authority as the head of state,

Romanian natalist decree restricting contraception

Seimeni (plural of Seimen) designates the group of flintlock-armed infantry mercenaries charged with guarding the hospodar (ruler) and his court in 17th and 18th century Wallachia and Moldavia. They were mostly of Serb and other Balkan origin. The term is of Turkish origin: seğmen means "young armed man", it itself derives from Persian سگبان (sagbān). In modern transcriptions of Slavonic, it may also appear as simén (plural: siméni) or siimén (siiméni).

thumb|300px|Făt-Frumos and a zmeu, art by [[Nadia Bulighin]] The zmeu (plural: zmei, feminine: zmeoaică / zmeoaice) is a fantastic creature of Romanian folklore and Romanian mythology.

thumb|320px|The Ursar, drawing by Theodor Aman

Vornic was a historical rank for an official in charge of justice and internal affairs. He oversaw the Royal Court. It originated in the Slovak nádvorník. In the 16th century in Moldavia were two high vornics: one for "Ţara de Sus" (the "Upper Land"), and other for "Ţara de Jos" (the "Lower Land").

thumb|200px|Sânziene (Lady's Bedstraw flowers) thumbnail|Sânzienele at Cricău Festival 2013

A Căpcăun is a creature in Romanian folklore, depicted as an ogre who kidnaps children or young ladies (mostly princesses). It represents evil, as do its counterparts Zmeu and the Balaur. In most Romanian publications of other European works the names of creatures such as Ogres or Trolls are usually translated as căpcăun. The Romanian word appears to have meant "Dog-head" (căp being a form of cap, meaning "head", and căun a derivative of câine, "dog"). According to Romanian folkloric phantasy, the căpcăun has a dog head, sometimes with four eyes, with eyes in the nape, or with four legs, but w

Caloian (also Calian(i), Caloiță, Scaloian, Gherman, or Iene) was a rainmaking and fertility rite in Romania, similar in some ways to Dodola. Its namesake is a clay effigy, whose sculpting, funeral, exhumation, and eventual destruction are centerpieces of the display. The source of this ritual, as is the case with those of many other local popular beliefs and practices, precedes the introduction of Christianity, although it came in time to be associated with Orthodox Easter or with the Feast of the Ascension. In some variants it was performed on a precisely calculated day two to three weeks af

Postelnic (, plural: postelnici, from the Slavic postel, "bed"; cf. Russian postelnichy) was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to the position of chamberlain. It was also known as stratonic (plural: stratonici), and the office was known as postelnicie or statornicie.

thumb|240px|The 1750s Paharnic Constantin Obedeanu of Craiova. From an 1860 copy by [[Constantin Lecca, who was himself a Paharnic]] The Paharnic (plural: Paharnici; also known as Păharnic, Paharnec, or Păharnec; Moldavian dialect: ceașnic, , pakharnikos, , paharnik) was a historical Romanian rank, one of the non-hereditary positions ascribed to the boyar aristocracy in Moldavia and Wallachia (the Danubian Principalities). It was the local equivalent of a cup-bearer or cześnik, originally centered on pouring and obtaining wine for the court of Moldavian and Wallachian Princes. With time, it be

Stolnic was a boier (Romanian nobility) rank and the position at the court in the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The title approximately corresponds to seneschal and is borrowed from the Slavic title stolnik (from the word stol, "table") a person in charge of the royal table.

Clucer (; plural cluceri) was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to that of Masters of the Royal Court. It originated in the Slavic kliučiari (from the word for "key"), being equivalent to the Russian title of klyuchnik.

thumb|320px|People in Bucharest in 1825 The Sudiți (plural of Sudit - Romanian language, from Italian '''', meaning "subject" or "citizen") were inhabitants of the Danubian Principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia) who, for the latter stage of the 18th and a large part of the 19th century — during and after the Phanariote period of rule, were placed under the protection of foreign states (usually the Habsburg monarchy, Imperial Russia, and France) as reward for particular services or in exchange for payment.