afacere

Forms

afacere f (plural afaceri)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian a- + facere “doing, making”, the long infinitive of face, on the model of French affaire.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The DA calls it a neologism made after French.^[6] Ciorănescu explains it by the French pair faire and its noun, and notes that it replaced an identical older formation from the prefix and the short infinitive, kept in „ce-are aface?” “what has it to do with it?”.^[7] The French noun continues Old French afaire.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a document of 1822, in the sense “business, matter”.^[5] MDA2's record, from Macedonski, is later.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were “matter, piece of business” and, in the plural, the affairs of the state: Tiktin cites Ministerul afacerilor străine “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.^[5] Pontbriant in 1862 glosses it with French affaire, occupation and travail.^[8] Barcianu in 1886 has om de afaceri “businessman”.^[9] The DA adds a lawsuit (o afacere de escrocherie “a fraud case”), afacere de onoare “an affair of honour, a duel”, and însărcinat de afaceri “chargé d'affaires”.^[6]

The commercial sense, a deal made for profit and often on speculation, grew to be the main one, with cifră de afaceri “turnover”.^[3][2] The derivative afacerist means a businessman without scruples.^[7]

Timeline

• 1822 – in a document, the first record.^[5]
• 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[8]
• 1869 – Barițiu's Hungarian–Romanian dictionary renders Hungarian ügylet and dolog with afacere.^[10]
• 1886 – om de afaceri “businessman”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A business or deal: a legal activity in farming, industry, trade or finance carried out for profit: Are o afacere cu mobilă. “He runs a furniture business.”^[2][3]
2. (colloquial) An undertaking that turns out well, a bargain: Mașina asta a fost o afacere. “This car was a bargain.”^[2][3]
3. An affair, an important matter, an occupation; in the plural, the affairs of a state: afaceri interne “internal affairs”, afaceri externe “foreign affairs”.^[2][3]
4. A legal case; a scandal.^[5][6]
5. (slang) The genitals.^[7]

Word family

• afacerist

Related words

• face
• French affaire

Usage notes

Însărcinat cu afaceri is a chargé d'affaires, om de afaceri a businessman and cifră de afaceri turnover.^[3][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 17
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 22
4. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 12
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. afacere
6. ^ 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. afacere
7. ^ 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. afacere
8. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 15
9. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 11
10. ^ Barițiu, George (1869), Dictionariu unguresc-romanescu, Brașov, p. 599
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 34