aliment

Forms

aliment n (plural alimente)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French aliment (“food”) and a learned borrowed from Latin alimentum (“nourishment, food”), a 19th-century neologism; the dictionaries give both sources.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin and MDA2 name French alone, Scriban Latin alone.^[5][6][7] The French word is itself borrowed from the Latin one, about 1120.^[8] The Latin noun is formed from alō (“to nourish, sustain”) with the suffix -mentum.^[9][1] The same Latin verb lies behind înalt and the neologisms adolescent and adult.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to about 1832, in Cornelli's work, with the sense “foodstuff”.^[2][5] In 1848 Negulici listed it among the neologisms, with the gloss nutriment, hrană and the figurative sense of what feeds the mind.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Besides the concrete “food”, the word had a figurative use from the start, “food for the mind or the soul”: Negulici's example calls the sciences food for the mind.^[11][12] In law the plural alimente means the means of living that a court grants for the support of parents, a divorced wife or children: the sense of French legal language.^[13][6][8]

A large family followed: the verb alimenta “to feed, to supply” in 1848, the adjective alimentar in 1856 and the noun alimentară “grocery” in 1952, shortened from prăvălie alimentară.^[2] Recent compounds include aliment-medicament “food with therapeutic uses”.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – first record, in Cornelli.^[2][5]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary, with the figurative sense; the verb alimenta.^[11][2]
• 1856 – the adjective alimentar.^[2]
• 1952 – alimentară “grocery shop”.^[2]
• 1970 – agroalimentar.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. food, a foodstuff: a natural or processed product eaten as nourishment.^[3][6][1]
2. (figurative) Something that feeds or sustains a feeling, the mind or the soul.^[12][15]
3. (law, in the plural) maintenance: the means of support granted by a court to parents, a divorced spouse or children.^[6][13]

Word family

• agroalimentar
• alimenta
• alimentar
• alimentară
• alimentator
• alimentație
• realimenta
• subalimenta
• supraalimenta

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. aliment
3. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 29
4. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. aliment
5. ^ 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. aliment
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 43
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 88
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. aliment
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
11. ^ a b c 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. aliment
12. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. aliment
13. ^ 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. aliment
14. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. aliment
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 62