agresiv

Forms

agresiv m or n (feminine singular agresivă, masculine plural agresivi, feminine/neuter plural agresive)^[1] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 spells it agressivŭ, after the French form, and glosses it as one who starts a quarrel and attacks first.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French agressif.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The DN compares Italian aggressivo as well.^[7] Scriban explained it as Latin aggressus with the suffix -iv, beside the French word.^[8] Wiktionary analyses the French adjective as agresser with the suffix -if, and DELR derives that verb from the stem ⟨aggress-⟩ of the past participle of Latin aggredior.^[1][3] DELR treats the word in the family of agresiune.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date it from 1840, in the vocabulary of Poenaru, Aaron and Hill, with the sense “attacking, fond of attacking”.^[3][6] MDA2 cites Eminescu's short stories for its first record, and the DA quotes Eminescu and Maiorescu for the sense “quarrelsome”.^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a person who attacks without provocation; the DA adds one who starts a quarrel, which MDA2 and DEX label figurative.^[9][4][5] CADE notes that a law can be called aggressive when it touches the freedom of a people.^[10] In the 1950s the DLRLC gave a political sense, plans or acts of states that betray an intention of aggression.^[11] In chemistry the word describes substances that attack the bodies they touch.^[5][4] The noun agresivitate “aggressiveness” is recorded from 1926, from French agressivité.^[3]

Timeline

• 1840 – the first record, in Poenaru, Aaron and Hill's vocabulary.^[3][6]
• 1870 – agressivŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[2]
• 1926 – the noun agresivitate.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. aggressive: attacking without being provoked.^[5][4]
2. (figurative) Looking for a quarrel; provocative, quarrelsome: un ton agresiv “an aggressive tone”.^[5][11]
3. (of substances) corrosive, attacking chemically what it touches.^[5][4]

Adverb

1. aggressively: a reacționat agresiv “he reacted aggressively”.^[1][8]

Word family

• agresivitate

Related words

• agresiune
• agresor
• French agressif

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 27
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. agresiune
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 29
5. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 22
6. ^ 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. agresiv
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 80
9. ^ 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. agresiv
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. agresiv
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, 44