actor

Forms

actor m (plural actori, feminine equivalent actriță or actoriță)^[1]

Etymology

DELR gives the word two sources: borrowed from Latin āctor (“one who acts”) as a learned loan, and French acteur.^[2] DER, Tiktin and CADE name French alone;^{[3][4][5][6][7][1]} DEX, MDA2, the neologism dictionaries and Wiktionary name French and Latin.^{[3][4][5][6][7][1]} The Latin word meant one who drives or does something, and in the theatre a performer; it is the agent noun of agō (“to drive, do, act”).^[2][8][1]

The old Moldavian variants actior, aftior and ahtior are from Russian актёр (aktjór).^[2][9][10] The feminine actriță follows French actrice.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1754.^[4] DELR dates it to 1794, in Micu, with the legal sense “plaintiff”, and the sense “performer” to 1802, in Beldiman.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense “plaintiff” was Transylvanian and is now obsolete;^[2][11] Barcianu's dictionary of 1886 still has actor “plaintiff” beside “actor”.^[2][11] In the Romanian theatre of the 19th century the word took the sense it has today, and Alecsandri's plays use the Russian-shaped aftor.^[9][12] Costinescu (1870) adds the figurative sense, a person who plays a part in an affair.^[13]

Derivatives followed: actorie “the actor's profession” (1842), actoraș (1881) and actoricesc (1884).^[2]

Timeline

• 1754 – Tiktin's first record.^[4]
• 1794 – “plaintiff”, in Micu.^[2]
• 1802 – “performer”, in Beldiman.^[2]
• 1805 – actriță, in the legal sense; as “actress” from 1830.^[2]
• 1842 – actorie, in Asachi.^[2]
• 1884 – actoricesc.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An actor: a performer who plays parts in plays, films and the like.^[5][6][1]
2. (figurative) A participant in an action or event.^[2][14]
3. (obsolete, Transylvania) A plaintiff.^[2][11]

Word family

• actoraș
• actoricesc
• actorie
• actoriță
• actriță

Related words

• act
• acțiune

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. actor
3. ^ 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. actor
4. ^ 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. actor
5. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 10
6. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 12
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. actor
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. actor
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. actor
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 67
11. ^ a b c Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 1
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 18
13. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 13
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 6