încuraja

Forms

încuraja (third-person singular present încurajează, past participle încurajat) first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French encourager in the accounts of Ciorănescu, Marcu, the NODEX and Wiktionary.^[2][3][4][1] DELR, MDA2 and the DEX describe it instead as formed from Romanian în- + curaj on the model of the French verb, and Tiktin and the DA also say “after French”.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} DELR records the older forms ⟨încoragia⟩, ⟨încorăja⟩, ⟨încorăji⟩, ⟨încuragia⟩ and ⟨încurăja⟩, which follow the older shapes of the noun, such as ⟨coragiu⟩.^[5]

curaj itself came from French courage and Italian coraggio in the 18th century.^[2] The French verb is formed from en- and that noun.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is from 1827, in the form încoragia, in a work of Golescu.^[5] Tiktin's first record is from 1830, in a translation of Montesquieu, and MDA2 cites Reteganul's tales of 1888.^[8][6] The sense was to give someone courage.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Before it, the sense was expressed by curajui “to encourage”, recorded in 1805.^[5] Like the French verb, încuraja soon came to mean to support or promote a thing, as in a încuraja industria națională “to encourage the national industry”.^[10][11] The reflexive means to take heart.^[8][9] Its opposite descuraja was formed on French décourager.^[2]

Timeline

• 1787 – the noun curaj, as coragiu.^[5]
• 1805 – curajui “to encourage”.^[5]
• 1827 – încoragia, the first record.^[5]
• 1830 – in a translation of Montesquieu.^[8]
• 1853 – încurajator “encouraging”.^[5]
• 1888 – in Reteganul's tales.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To encourage, to give someone courage; to hearten.^[7][6][1]
2. To support or stimulate someone or something; to promote.^[7][6]

Word family

• încurajator

Related words

• curaj
• curajos
• descuraja

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. curaj
3. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. încuraja
4. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. încuraja
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. curaj
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1218
7. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 543
8. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. încuraja
9. ^ a b Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. încuraja
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 319
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. încuraja