ceas

Ceas is the Romanian noun for a timekeeping device, encompassing both clocks and watches. It refers to instruments that display time, whether mounted on a wall, placed on a surface, or worn on the wrist. The word is masculine; the plural form is ceasuri, and the definite forms are ceasul (the clock) and ceasurile (the clocks). In everyday use, ceas can denote a specific clock or a watch in general.

Common types include ceas de mână (wristwatch), ceas de buzunar (pocket watch), ceas de perete or ceas de podea (wall or floor clock). Clocks and watches can be described by their movements, such as mechanical (mecanic), automatic (automat), or quartz (cu cuarț). Modern timepieces are frequently quartz-powered for accuracy and battery efficiency, while traditional or luxury watches may be mechanical or automatic, requiring no battery or using manual winding.

In Romanian usage, ceas also appears in phrases related to time, such as ceasul, meaning “the clock” as a device, or expressions like la ceas de seară to indicate the evening time. The term ceas is used in everyday speech to refer to a timepiece in general, or to specify a particular type when combined with modifiers (e.g., ceas de mână, ceas de buzunar). Terminology for timekeeping devices is shared with other words in the language, but ceas serves as the primary generic term in Romanian.