alianță

Forms

alianță f (plural alianțe)^[1] The oldest form is alianție.^[2][3] Dionisie Eclesiarhul's chronicle has „au făcut alianție, adecă contenire de arme” “they made an alliance, that is, a ceasefire”.^[4] Șincai wrote alleanță, with the Italian vowel: „cu toate cărțile și pecețile cele despre unire sau alleanță” “with all the letters and seals about the union or alliance”.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French alliance, as DELR, MDA2, DEX, MDN and Wiktionary give it.^{[2][3][6][7][1]} DELR takes the variant ⟨aleanță⟩ from Italian alleanza, and Tiktin derives the word itself from the Italian.^[2][5] Its source is a derivative of allier (“to ally”) with the suffix -ance.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the variant alianție in a translation of Oxenstierna of about 1770;^[8] Tiktin also dates the word to 1770.^[2][5] MDA2 cites Dionisie Eclesiarhul's chronicle, which uses alianție for a truce.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a treaty between states;^[8] Dionisie used it for an armistice, a sense MDA2 marks as obsolete.^[4][3] Negulici (1848) defines it as a union or confederation of states.^[8] The sense of kinship by marriage follows the French: rudă prin alianță is a relative by marriage.^[4][6] Tripla alianță named the alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy.^[5][9] In some regions the word also means an engagement ring.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1770 – alianție in a translation of Oxenstierna, the first record.^[2][5]
• 1792 – the derivative aliant “ally”.^[2]
• 1794 – aliat “allied; ally”.^[2]
• 1814 – alianție “truce” in Dionisie Eclesiarhul's chronicle.^[3][4]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. alliance: a lasting political agreement between two or more states, laid down in a treaty, to help each other politically and militarily.^[6][3]
2. An agreement between groups to reach a common goal; a coalition.^[6][3]
3. A union by marriage: rudă prin alianță “relative by marriage”.^[6][3]
4. (regional) An engagement ring.^[6]
5. (obsolete) A truce, armistice.^[3]

Related words

• alia
• aliat
• aliaj
• French alliance

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. alia
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 42
4. ^ a b c d e 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. alianță
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. alianță
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. 29
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. alianță
8. ^ a b c d Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. alianță
9. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. alianță