acuzare

Forms

acuzare f (plural acuzări)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian acuza + -re: it is the long infinitive of acuza (“to accuse”), used as an abstract noun.^[2][3][1][4] The verb, recorded from 1776, is from French accuser, with Italian accusare and the learned Latin accūsō, from ad- and causa (“reason, lawsuit”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the noun to Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848, in the sense “accusation, charge”.^[3] The verb acuza is older, recorded from 1776 in a document.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The DA describes it as a legal term, “bringing a complaint”, extended to blame in general.^[2] Damé glossed it with French accusation in 1893.^[6] In the 20th century it also took a concrete sense, the party that accuses in a trial, the prosecution, as opposed to the defence.^[7][8] Act de acuzare is the bill of indictment.^[9] Beside it Romanian uses acuzație and acuză in the abstract sense.^[7]

Timeline

• 1776 – the verb acuza in a document.^[5]
• 1848 – acuzare in Negulici's dictionary, the first record.^[3]
• 1893 – Damé's dictionary glosses it “accusation”.^[6]
• 1958 – DLRM records the concrete sense “the accusing party in a trial”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of accusing and its result; an accusation, a charge: acuzare de furt.^[7][10]
2. (concrete) The prosecution: the party that accuses in a trial.^[7][4]

Related words

• acuzație
• acuzat
• acuzator

Usage notes

Act de acuzare “bill of indictment” is a fixed legal phrase.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. acuzare
3. ^ 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. acuzare
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. acuzare
5. ^ a b c 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
6. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. acuzare
7. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 11
8. ^ a b Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 8
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 20
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 13