activitate

Forms

activitate f (plural activități)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin āctīvitās, a New Latin word, together with French activité and German Aktivität, the three sources DELR names.^[2] MDA2 and DEX give French and Latin, the DA a neologism from French;^[3][4][5][6] Tiktin names Latin first.^[3][4][5][6] The Latin noun is formed from āctīvus (“active”) with the suffix -tās, and the French one is a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin.^[1] In Romanian it matches the adjective activ with the suffix -itate.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dimitrie Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705), in the phrase sfera activității “the sphere of activity”, the limits within which one may act.^[2][5][6] DELR calls this an isolated record; the word appears again only in 1805, in the dedication of a book by Obradovici.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word took hold as a term for the power to act and for diligence: Negulici (1848) glosses it with “vigour, quickness, liveliness, tirelessness”, and Laurian and Massim with “diligent, energetic work”.^[8][9] The DA quotes Costache Negruzzi on people who set to work cu o activitate febrilă “with feverish activity”.^[5] The military în activitate, of an officer on active service as against the reserve, is recorded by the DA and Laurian and Massim.^[5][9]

The sense of “diligence” is now rare; the usual one is a set of actions done for a purpose, an occupation or work.^[4] The 20th century added physical senses: the number of particles a radioactive source emits per second and activitate solară “solar activity”.^[4][10] The derivatives radioactivitate (1905–1906) and hiperactivitate (1923) follow French.^[2]

Timeline

• 1705 – sfera activității in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[2][6]
• 1805 – the next record, in Obradovici.^[2]
• 1846 – inactivitate “inactivity”, in Laurian.^[2]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]
• 1905–1906 – radioactivitate in the journal Natura.^[2]
• 1923 – hiperactivitate in Parhon.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. activity: a set of physical, mental or moral acts done to reach a result; work, occupation.^[4][3]
2. (rare) diligence, industriousness.^[4][3]
3. (military) în activitate: on active service.^[3][5]
4. activitate solară: solar activity, the phenomena in the outer layers of the Sun.^[4]
5. (physics) the number of particles a radioactive source emits per second.^[4]

Related words

• inactivitate
• radioactivitate
• activ
• acțiune
• Latin āctīvitās

Usage notes

Sferă de activitate “sphere of activity” is a set phrase, recorded from Cantemir on.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. activ
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 12
4. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 10
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. activitate
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. activitate
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 67
8. ^ a b 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
9. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani
10. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. activitate