amuzant

Forms

amuzant m or n (feminine singular amuzantă, masculine plural amuzanți, feminine/neuter plural amuzante)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French amusant (“amusing”), as DELR, Tiktin, MDA2, DEX and Wiktionary agree.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} DELR treats it in the family of the verb amuza, beside amuzament, from amusement.^[2] The Academy dictionary of 1913 already marked it as a neologism from French.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a work of Constantin Stamati, dated 1852, with the sense “amusing, entertaining”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since the first record: something or someone that amuses or entertains.^[3][5] Scriban marked it as a neologism and illustrated it with children playing in the snow, an amusing sight.^[7] DELR records amuzament from 1857 and amuzator “someone who amuses” from 1900, formed on amuza after French amuseur.^[2]

Timeline

• 1852 – first record, in Stamati.^[2][3]
• 1857 – the noun amuzament “amusement”, in Barasch.^[2]
• 1900 – amuzator “(person) who amuses”, in Petică.^[2]
• 1913 – recorded in the Academy dictionary as a neologism from French.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. amusing, funny, entertaining: o poveste amuzantă “an amusing story”.^[5][4][1]

Related words

• amuza
• amuzament
• hazliu
• nostim

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. amuza
3. ^ 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. amuzant
4. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 58
5. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 38
6. ^ 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. amuzant
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 98