Learn Romanian › măcar
măcar
at least /məˈkar/
adverb#275 most common
Also: even (though/if), if only
Example sentences
Vreau măcar o cafea.
I want at least a coffee.
Sună-mă măcar o dată pe săptămână.
Call me at least once a week.
Nu am reușit să termin totul, dar măcar am început.
I didn't manage to finish everything, but at least I got started.
Măcar de-ai asculta ce-ți spun!
If only you would listen to what I'm telling you!
Măcar că era obosit, a continuat să muncească.
Even though he was tired, he kept working.
Chiar dacă nu poți veni la toată întâlnirea, ai putea măcar să treci pe la începutul ei?
Even if you can't come to the whole meeting, could you at least stop by at the start?
Word family
măcar căeven though
măcar dacăeven if
baremat least (colloquial synonym, also a Balkan loanword)
ba măcarat the very least, if nothing else
Etymology
Măcar entered Romanian from Modern Greek μακάρι (makari), meaning "would that" or "if only", itself derived from the Ancient Greek adjective μακάριος (makarios), "blessed, happy". The word spread across the Balkans during centuries of contact under Byzantine and later Ottoman influence, landing in several unrelated language families with the same sense of a modest wish or concession. In Romanian it hardened into an everyday particle for "at least" and for concessive clauses like "even though".
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