anomalie

Forms

anomalie f (plural anomalii)^[1]

Etymology

Cantemir took it in 1705 as borrowed from New Latin anomalia, or else as borrowed from Modern Greek ανωμαλία (anomalía); in the 19th century it came again as borrowed from French anomalie.^[2][3] DEX and MDA2 give only the French source, while DN and MDN name all three languages, and DN adds Italian anomalia.^[4][5][6][7] Tiktin gives Greek and Latin.^[8] Wiktionary also analyses it as anomal with the suffix -ie.^[1]

The source of all of these is Ancient Greek ἀνωμαλία (anōmalía, “unevenness, irregularity”), from the privative ἀν- (an-) and ὁμαλός (homalós, “even, level”).^[9] In Latin Varro used it for irregularity in language, the opposite of analogy;^[9] French borrowed it in 1570.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dimitrie Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705), in the sense “irregularity, straying from the natural order”: „Toată anomalia şi rătăcirea firii la dînsa vom afla” “all the irregularity and straying of nature we shall find in her”.^[3][8][2]

Semantic evolution

Cantemir's word did not take root, and the 19th century borrowed it again from French.^[3] Its early modern uses were grammatical: Costache Negruzzi wrote about “anomalies” in the literature of languages, and Scriban and the CADE still put the grammatical sense first.^[3][10][11] Maiorescu used it for a state of things out of order, a “parliamentary anomaly”.^[3]

The DA records two senses in astronomy: an irregularity in the motion of a planet caused by the pull of its neighbours, and the angular distance of a planet from its perihelion.^[3] In the natural sciences Scriban gives “monstrosity”, and the modern dictionaries the extended sense “defect”.^[10][4]

Timeline

• 1705 – in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică, the first record.^[2][8]
• 1872 – the grammatical sense in Costache Negruzzi's collected writings.^[11]
• 1886 – in Barcianu's dictionary.^[12]
• 1893–1895 – in Damé's dictionary.^[13]
• 1939 – Scriban gives the grammatical sense and “monstrosity” in the natural sciences.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something that departs from the normal state or from the usual rule; an irregularity: o anomalie de temperatură “a temperature anomaly”.^[4][5]
2. By extension, a defect, especially an abnormal formation of an organ or of the body.^[4][5][6]
3. (astronomy) An irregularity in the motion of a planet; the angular distance of a planet from its perihelion.^[3]

Related words

• anomal
• Ancient Greek ἀνωμαλία (anōmalía)

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. anomal
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. anomalie
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 44
5. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 67
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. anomalie
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. anomalie
8. ^ 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. anomalie
9. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 104
11. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. anomalie
12. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 26
13. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. anomalie