alee

Forms

alee f (plural alei)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French allée, which first meant “a going, a journey”.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The French noun comes from aller (“to go”), which DELR traces to a reconstructed Vulgar Latin *amlō, from Latin ambulō (“to walk”).^[2] The Latin verb is inherited in Romanian as umbla.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is from 1788, in a travel account by M. Cantacuzino.^[2] Tiktin's first date is 1814.^[5] The DA's oldest quotation is from Constantin Negruzzi: „Ajungând în capătul aleei, ne-am pus pe-o canapea de brazde” “Reaching the end of the alley, we sat down on a bench of turf”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word has meant a path in a garden or park lined with trees from the start, and Eminescu and Creangă used it so.^[7] From the path between trees it passed to a street: the DA records a long lane lined on both sides with the same kind of buildings, and modern dictionaries add a short, narrow side street.^[7][3][8] In architecture it names a passage between two rows of the same elements.^[3][8]

Timeline

• 1788 – the first record, in a travel account by M. Cantacuzino.^[2]
• 1814 – Tiktin's first date.^[5]
• 1872 – in the collected writings of Constantin Negruzzi.^[4][7]
• 1896 – contraalee “side alley”, from contre-allée.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A path in a park or garden, laid with sand or gravel and lined with trees or flowers; an alley, an avenue.^[3][4]
2. A street planted with trees; a short, narrow street, a side street.^[3][8][9]
3. A passage lined on both sides by architectural elements of the same kind.^[3][8]

Related words

• umbla
• ambulanță
• French allée

Usage notes

The plural is alei; older writers, Eminescu among them, also used alee.^[10][11] Tiktin records old neuter forms aleiu and aleu.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. alee
3. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 27
4. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 38
5. ^ 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. alee
6. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
7. ^ a b c d 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. alee
8. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
9. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 58
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească