clepsidra

English translation: sandglass

10:40 Dec 1, 2004

Romanian to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

Romanian term or phrase: clepsidra

Timpul se scurgea in clepsidra.

didi

English translation:sandglass

Explanation:
sandglass

Selected response from:

Mihaela Sinca
Local time: 05:27

Grading comment

Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +4

sandglass

Mihaela Sinca

5 +3

hourglass

Irene S.

not for grade

Mihaela Nissen (X)

1 +1

not for grading

Jack Doughty

Answers

1 min confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

hourglass

Explanation:
.

Irene S.
Local time: 03:27
Native speaker of:

Romanian

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

sandglass

Explanation:
sandglass

Mihaela Sinca
Local time: 05:27
Native speaker of:

Romanian

Grading comment

Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

24 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

not for grading

Explanation:
I don't know Romanian, but the word "clepsydra" (with a "y") does exist in English, for a timer based on water rather than sand. Here is a definition from the Britannica:

The drip-drip of a clepsydra was an ancient precursor of the tick-tock of modern clocks. Clepsydras were water clocks that relied on a steadily rising or falling water level in a container to indicate the elapse of predetermined periods of time. Unlike sundials, clepsydras worked in cloudy weather and in the dark. But, as with many sundials, a clepsydra's hours varied according to seasonal changes in the period of daylight, with longer hours during summer days and winter nights.

In the clepsydra, a floating pointer indicates the hour on a drum marked with lines. Spacing between the lines on the drum varies to represent seasonal changes in hour length. When the float tank emptied automatically at midnight each day, the water running out of the tank through a siphon turned a wheel that set the drum's position correctly for the new day. The float tank was filled from a reservoir in which a constant pressure was maintained by means of a steady water supply and a runoff outlet.

A clepsydra could not be used to "find" the time--that is, to identify the hour in terms of the Earth's rotation. It could only measure predetermined periods, such as the time allotted for a speech in court, or an hour whose length had been established with an astrolabe or other "time-finding" tool.

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:27
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

13 days confidence:

not for grade

Explanation:
Thank you Jack for your pertinent contribution.The question here is how do we translate clepsidra. I also agree with the two proposals from Mihaela and Irene,both being correct(please see below).The problem is that the Romanian language does not differenciate between water-based or sand-based time instruments.According to the Romanian definition,clepsydra is the superior term defining both water and sand-based time instruments.However, Romanians do mostly think of sandglass and its metaphorical use in poetry and if asked to draw a clepsydra, the very few would draw the old water-based time instrument.
I have found an interesting internet page on this matter and would like to share it with you:

“Now,the principle of the hourglass is so similar to that of the clepsydra, and its first use was so early, that it is somewhat of a misnomer to speak of it as a successor. About the only justification that can be made is that the clepsydra has long disappeared, while the sand-glass--if not the hourglass--is still sold in the stores for such familiar uses as timing the boiling of eggs, the length of telephone-conversations, and other short-time needs.

Nothing could be much simpler than the hourglass, in which fine sand poured through a tiny hole from an upper into a lower compartment. It had none of the mechanical features of the later clepsydrae; it did not adjust itself to astronomical laws like the perfected sun-dials; it merely permitted a steady stream of fine sand to
pass through an opening at a uniform rate of speed, until one of the funnel-shaped bowls had emptied itself”

You can read more at http://www.love-watches.com/Hourglass.htm

Mihaela Nissen (X)
Local time: 04:27
Native speaker of:

Romanian

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clepsidra

English translation: sandglass

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English translation: sandglass

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