aliat

Forms

aliat m or n (feminine singular aliată, masculine plural aliați, feminine/neuter plural aliate); also a noun, feminine aliată^[2][1]

Etymology

According to DELR it is borrowed from French allié, with Italian alleato (“ally”) as a second model, and is recorded before the verb, which DELR dates from about 1832.^[3] Most dictionaries treat it instead as the past participle of alia used as an adjective and noun.^{[4][2][5][6][1]} Scriban gives the French word, and the Marcu–Maneca dictionary derives it from the verb with a comparison to the French.^[7][8] The verb is from allier, which the same dictionary compares with Latin alligō (“to bind to”).^[9][2]

Around 1800 the word had a rival, aliant, formed on alianță by a change of suffix and recorded from 1792.^[3][4] DELR also records a variant aleat.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1793, in Predetici, where it means “allied”.^[6] DELR's first record is of 1794, in Cantacuzino, for a power or state in an alliance with another.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the language of diplomacy and war: at first it named states or powers bound by treaty, and the DA's quotations from Maiorescu and Caragiale speak of allied troops and armies.^[3][4][10] It then extended to any person or group that joins another in a common action or supports them.^[5][2] In formal use it also means related by marriage, a sense Șăineanu put first.^[5][11] With the verb's metallurgical sense it came to mean “alloyed” (of a metal).^[4][2] The press has the compound aliat-cheie “key ally”.^[12]

The older aliant was still used by Șincai and Beldiman early in the 19th century;^[4][7] Scriban dates it to about 1820.^[4][7]

Timeline

• c. 1770 – alianță “alliance”, from French and Italian.^[3]
• 1792 – aliant “ally” in Gherasim's history.^[3]
• 1793 – aliat “allied” in Predetici.^[6]
• 1794 – aliat for an allied power, in Cantacuzino.^[3]
• c. 1832 – the verb alia in Iordache Golescu's Condica.^[3]
• 1839 – aliaj “alloy” in Vaillant's dictionary.^[3]
• 1938 – interaliat “inter-allied”, from French, a word of the First World War.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. allied: joined with another by an alliance for a common action; of a state, bound by a treaty of alliance.^[2][5]
2. (of metals) alloyed: mixed with one or more other elements to form an alloy.^[2][13]
3. (formal) Related by marriage.^[5][7]

Noun

1. An ally: a person, party, class or state that joins another for a common aim: țara și aliații ei “the country and its allies”.^[2][1]
2. A supporter, someone who backs another in an undertaking.^[5]

Word family

• nealiat

Related words

• alia
• alianță
• aliaj
• interaliat
• French allié

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 29
3. ^ 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. alia
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. aliat
5. ^ 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, 42
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. aliat
7. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 87
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. aliat
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. alia
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 62
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 18
12. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. aliat
13. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. aliat