absurd

Forms

absurd m or n (feminine singular absurdă, masculine plural absurzi, feminine/neuter plural absurde)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French absurde, with Latin absurdus (“senseless, incongruous”) as a second model.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin derives it from the New Latin word alone, the DA from French.^[5][6]

The Latin word first meant “out of tune, discordant”.^[7][2] Its origin is disputed: Ernout and Meillet see the prefix ab- on the root of susurrus (“murmur”), while de Vaan derives it from surdus (“deaf”), through a sense “unheard of”.^[2] The OLD also analyses it as the prefix with the adjective for “deaf”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1799, DELR in a text by Micu.^[2][5] MDA2 and the DA start from Țichindeal's fables of 1814, which speak of minds full of contradictory words, „și, pre scurt să zicem, absurde” “and, to put it briefly, absurd”.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

From the start it meant contrary to logic and common sense.^[2][6] The neuter noun absurdul “the absurd” and the logical phrases prin absurd and reducere la absurd followed the French models.^[2][3] In philosophy absurd also names the total break between a person and his social and cultural setting, and the feeling it causes.^[8]

Timeline

• 1799 – the first record, in Micu.^[2][5]
• 1814 – absurde in Țichindeal's fables.^[4][6]
• 1818 – the noun absurditate in Budai-Deleanu's lexicon.^[2]
• 1848 – adjective and adverb in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. absurd, contrary to logic, to the laws of nature or to common sense; ilogic.^[3][4][1]

Noun

1. The absurd: what is absurd; absurdity, nonsense.^[3][8]
2. (philosophy) The total break between a person and his social and cultural setting, and the feeling it causes.^[8]

Word family

• absurditate

Usage notes

Prin absurd means “admitting a false premise, an almost impossible case”, and reducere la absurd is the method of proving a truth by showing that its opposite is false.^[3] The masculine plural is absurzi, with /d/ becoming /z/ before -i.^[3][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. absurd
3. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 4
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 4
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. absurd
6. ^ a b c d 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. absurd
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. absurd
9. ^ Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. absurd