Uncertain; only found in some Balkan languages. Possibly from a South Slavic *stopanъ, compare Bulgarian стопа́нин (stopánin), Macedonian сто́пан (stópan). Compare Megleno-Romanian stăpǫn and the Aromanian verb stãpuescu. Compare also Albanian shtëpi (“house”). The Romanian word may actually more likely be derived from an early version of this Albanian word (a form *stëpi, from Latin hospitium or Greek σπίτι (spíti)); for the ending, cf. the locative suffix used in Albanian, e.g. shtëpinë (“in the house”). The relationship between the word for "house" and the one for "master" is common in Indo-European languages (cf. Latin dominus < domus).[1]
stăpân m (plural stăpâni, feminine equivalent stăpână)
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (un) stăpân | stăpânul | (niște) stăpâni | stăpânii |
| genitive/dative | (unui) stăpân | stăpânului | (unor) stăpâni | stăpânilor |
| vocative | stăpânule | stăpânilor | ||