acuza

Forms

acuza (third-person singular present acuză, past participle acuzat), first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French accuser, with Latin accūsō (“to accuse”) as a second model, a neologism of the late 18th century.^[2][3][1] DELR adds Italian accusare as a third model;^[4][5] Tiktin names only French.^[4][5] The Latin verb is formed from ad- and causa (“cause, reason; lawsuit”), and the French verb comes from it.^[4][6][1] Romanian cauză, scuza and recuza belong to the same Latin family.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is a document of 1776 published by Urechia, in the sense “to charge, to blame”.^[4] Tiktin dates it to 1781, in Samuil Micu.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense, to bring a charge against someone, came first, with the general sense “to blame, reproach”.^[4][8] The DA glossed it with the native a pârî and a învinovăți.^[8] The sense “to show, reveal”, of things, is a Gallicism in Tiktin's view.^[5] In medicine a patient is said to acuza a symptom, to report it.^[4]

The participle acuzat “accused person” is recorded from 1794.^[4] Acuzație (1837) was borrowed from French and Latin, acuzator (1845) from French.^[4] The noun acuză (1856) is a back-formation from the verb.^[4]

Timeline

• 1776 – the first record, in a document published by Urechia.^[4]
• 1781 – in Samuil Micu.^[5]
• 1794 – acuzat “accused person”, in the Vienna calendar.^[4]
• 1837 – acuzație “accusation”.^[4]
• 1848 – Negulici records the verb with the present acuzez.^[9]
• 1856 – the noun acuză, formed from the verb.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To accuse, to blame;^{[2][3][10][1]} (law) to charge someone with an offence or a crime.^{[2][3][10][1]}
2. (formal) To show, to reveal; to display a reaction.^[2][3]
3. (medicine, of a patient) To report a symptom.^[4]

Word family

• acuzabil
• acuzat
• acuzație
• acuză
• autoacuza
• coacuzat
• acuzator

Related words

• cauză
• scuza
• recuza
• Latin accūsō

Usage notes

Negulici (1848) conjugated the verb acuzez, acuzezi, acuzează; the standard present is now acuz.^[9][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 11
3. ^ 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, 13
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. acuza
5. ^ 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. acuzá
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. s.v. cauză
8. ^ 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. acuza
9. ^ 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, p. s.v. accusare
10. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. acuza