angaja

Forms

angaja (third-person singular present angajează, past participle angajat) 1st conjugation^[1] Old variants are angagia, angajaresi, angajarisi and angajui.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French engager (“to pledge; to engage”), also used reflexively as s'engager.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} In Transylvania it also came through German engagieren.^[2] The variants angajaresi and angajarisi took the verb into the class of loans in -arisi, and angajui into that of verbs in -ui.^[2]

The French verb, recorded about 1150, is formed on gage (“pledge”) with the prefix en-, and first meant “to pawn”; hence “to take on an obligation”.^[7][2] The noun is from Frankish *waddi (“pledge”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Micu's history of the Romanians, a manuscript of 1801.^[2][3] MDA2 dates it to 1866, in a document printed in the Uricariul where the writer pledges to respect certain rights of suzerainty.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The DA (1913) gives “to hire someone”, “to oblige”, “to invest capital in a business” and “to begin a battle or a discussion”, and reflexively “to take service, to pledge oneself”.^[8] Older Romanian also used it for “to hire a vehicle” and “to pawn”.^[2][6] Newer senses are “to take a road” for a driver, the start of an overtaking manoeuvre, and in sport, putting the puck or the ball into play.^[9][6]

Its family grew in the 19th and 20th centuries: angajament from French engagement (1854), angajat “employee” (1875), angajator “employer” (1909), dezangaja (1958).^[2]

Timeline

• 1801 – in Micu's history of the Romanians, the first record.^[2][3]
• 1854 – angajament “commitment”.^[2]
• 1866 – mă angajez “I pledge” in a document printed in the Uricariul.^[5][8]
• 1875 – angajat “employee”.^[2]
• 1909 – angajator “employer”.^[2]
• 1958 – dezangaja “to disengage”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, reflexive) To hire someone or to take a job; to undertake a piece of work; to hire a vehicle.^[6][5][1]
2. (reflexive) To commit oneself, to undertake to do something;^[6][1] (transitive) to entail an obligation for someone.^[6][1]
3. (transitive, reflexive) To draw into an action; to take a certain road;^[6][5] (military) to begin an action, to engage battle.^[6][5]
4. (sports) To put the puck or the ball into play.^[6]

Word family

• angajament
• angajat
• angajator
• dezangaja
• reangaja

Related words

• French engager

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. angaja
3. ^ 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. angajá
4. ^ 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. angaja
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, 64
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 42
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. engager
8. ^ a b c 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. angaja
9. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. angaja