amic

Forms

amic m (plural amici, feminine equivalent amică)^[1] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 spells it amicŭ.^[2] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 prints it in the transitional alphabet as amiк.^[3]

Etymology

It is a neologism of the late 18th century, borrowed from Italian amico, or taken directly from Latin amīcus (“friend”): DELR, DEX and DN name both, DER and MDA2 the Latin word only.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} DLRM gives the Italian word first, Tiktin the Latin.^[9][10] The Latin noun is formed on amō (“to love”).^[4][1]

Its Romance cognates include French ami, Spanish amigo and Portuguese amigo.^[1] Its derivatives were taken from the same languages: amical from French, amiciție from Italian or Latin, and inamic from Latin inimīcus, with its vowel ⟨a⟩ taken from the base word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1794, in a calendar printed in Vienna, with the sense “friend”; the feminine amică and the abstract amicie appear in the same text.^[4][10] MDA2's first record is much later, in Maiorescu's Critice (1867).^[8]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed “friend”, a bookish or familiar synonym of the older prieten.^[5][4] DLRLC marks it as less common in its day, and notes the vocative amice, often ironic or condescending.^[11] MDA2 adds an ironic sense “fellow, guy”.^[8]

Scriban and Șăineanu also give an adjective use, “friendly, favourable”, as in țară amică “a friendly country”.^[12][13] The negative neamic “enemy”, formed on the model of inimīcus, appears with the word itself in 1794.^[4]

Timeline

• 1794 – amic, amică, amicie and neamic in a calendar printed in Vienna.^[4][10]
• 1822 – amiciție “friendship” in Bobb's dictionary.^[4]
• 1824 – inimic, later inamic, “enemy”.^[4]
• c. 1832 – amical “friendly” in I. Golescu.^[4]
• 1848 – amic in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[3]
• 1867 – amic in Maiorescu's Critice.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. friend, pal; the same as prieten.^[5][8][1]
2. (ironic) A fellow, a guy.^[8]

Word family

• amical
• amică
• amicie
• amiciție
• inamicie
• inamiciție
• neamic
• amicabil
• inamic

Related words

• prieten
• Latin amīcus

Usage notes

The feminine is amică, plural amice.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 38
3. ^ a b 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. amic
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. amic
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 36
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. amic
7. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. amic
8. ^ 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, 54
9. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 26
10. ^ 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. amic
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 78
12. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 95
13. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 22