adio

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian addio (“farewell”), with French adieu as a second model in DER, MDA2 and DEX.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Ciorănescu notes that, as in French, it marks only a final parting.^[3]

The Italian word comes from the phrase a Dio (“to God”), short for “I commend you to God”.^[2][7][8] DELI records the phrase in Boccaccio in 1336 and the single word before 1348;^[7][1] Wiktionary traces the phrase to Medieval Latin ad Deum (“to God”).^[7][1] Graur placed it among the Romanian descendants of Latin deus (“god”), beside zeu, zău and Dumnezeu.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is from Lazăr Asachi in 1821, as a formula of farewell for a long or final parting;^[2][10] Tiktin also dates it to 1821.^[2][10] MDA2 gives a later first record, in Constantin Negruzzi.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The interjection soon became a noun as well: Grigore Alexandrescu has cel din urmă adio “the last farewell”, and Constantin Negruzzi un semn de adio “a sign of farewell”.^[4][11] In 1871 Laurian and Massim rejected it as a needless foreign word, preferring native formulas such as rămâi sănătos.^[12] It stayed in the language, and gained an ironic use, “that's the end of”: Adio vacanță! “so much for the holiday!”^[11][6] The phrase a-și lua adio de la ceva means “to give something up as lost”.^[6][5]

Timeline

• 1821 – in Lazăr Asachi, the first record.^[2][10]
• 19th century – the noun adio in Grigore Alexandrescu and Constantin Negruzzi.^[4]
• 1871 – Laurian and Massim's glossary of foreign words rejects it.^[12]

Meanings

Interjection

1. farewell, goodbye: said at a long or final parting.^[6][5][1]
2. (ironic) That's the end of…, so much for…^[6][5]

Noun

1. A farewell: un ultim adio “a last farewell”;^[6][5] a-și lua adio de la ceva “to give something up as lost”.^[6][5]

Related words

• zeu
• Dumnezeu
• Italian addio
• French adieu

Usage notes

MDA2 records the jocular phrase adio și n-am cuvinte “I'm done with it, I don't care”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. adio
3. ^ a b 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. adio
4. ^ a b c 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. adio
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 16
6. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 13
7. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 37
10. ^ 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. adio
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 25
12. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871), Glossariu care coprinde vorbele d'in limba romana straine prin originea sau form'a loru, cumu si celle de origine indouiosa, Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. s.v. adio