agita

Forms

agita (third-person singular present agită, past participle agitat, third-person subjunctive agite) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French agiter, and at the same time a learned borrowed from Latin agitō (“to set in motion, toss about”).^[2][3][4] The DA, Tiktin and DLRM give French only, while DN puts the Latin first and compares Italian agitare.^[5][6][7][8] The Latin verb is the frequentative of agō (“to drive, act”).^[2][9] French borrowed it from Latin in the 13th century.^[9] Graur lists it among the Romanian loans from this Latin family, with agent, act and acțiune.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the verb to 1846, in a text by Laurian.^[2][6] Its derivatives were borrowed earlier: aghitațione “agitation” is recorded in 1794 and agitator in 1837.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, to move something rapidly to and fro or shake it, came with the figurative ones, to trouble and to stir up.^[2][5] Pontbriant glossed it in 1862 with French agiter, secouer, exciter and débattre.^[11] The political sense, “to incite to revolt”, goes back to French usage of the Revolution.^[9][2] A agita o chestiune “to debate a question publicly” is recorded by the DA, and in chemistry the verb means to mix substances by shaking them.^[5][4] Reflexive a se agita is the colloquial “to fidget, to bustle about”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1794 – aghitațione, an early form of agitație, in a Vienna calendar.^[2]
• 1837 – agitator “agitator”.^[2]
• 1846 – the verb agita, the first record.^[2][6]
• 1862 – Pontbriant's dictionary records it.^[11]
• 1899 – agitatoric “relating to political agitation”.^[2]
• 1937 – agitator as the name of a mixing device.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To move rapidly to and fro; to shake, to sway: Vântul agită crengile.^[3][4]
2. (transitive) To mix substances by shaking them in a vessel: A se agita înainte de folosire.^[3][4]
3. (reflexive, colloquial) To move about hurriedly and nervously, to fidget.^[3][4]
4. (transitive and reflexive, figurative) To trouble, to torment; to be restless.^[3][4]
5. (transitive, figurative) To stir up, to incite people to revolt.^[3][4]
6. (transitive) a agita o problemă to discuss a question publicly.^[4][6]

Word family

• agitator
• agitatoric
• agitație

Related words

• agitat
• French agiter

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. agita
3. ^ 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. 21
4. ^ 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, 28
5. ^ 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. agita
6. ^ 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. agita
7. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 14
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. agita
9. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
11. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 18