antidot

Forms

antidot n (plural antidoturi)^[1]

Etymology

Romanian dictionaries give several sources for the word.^[2] For DELR it is borrowed from Modern Greek αντίδοτο (antídoto), learned Latin antidotum and French antidote at once.^[2] Tiktin gives Greek and Latin, MDA2 only Latin, and DEX 2009 French and Latin.^[3][4][5] The DA explains the double source: the modern word is French, while the older writers took it from Latin.^[6]

The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ἀντίδοτος (antídotos, “given against”), an adjective used as a noun.^[2][7] It is formed on ἀντιδίδωμι (antidídōmi, “to give in return”), from ἀντί (antí, “against”) and δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the glossary of foreign words in Dimitrie Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705), which explains antidot as a remedy given against illness.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

Cantemir's sense of a remedy against illness narrowed to that of a substance against poison: Negulici in 1848 defined it as a medicine that protects from poison, plague and venom.^[6][8] The figurative sense, something that guards against an evil, appears in Iancu Văcărescu's verse and in Șăineanu's example “work is an antidote to boredom”.^[6][9] The plural varied: CADE gives both antidoturi and antidote, and the first is the standard form today.^[10][5]

Timeline

• 1705 – antidot “remedy against illness” in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[2][3]
• 1848 – “a medicine against poison, plague and venom” in Negulici's dictionary.^[8]
• 1870 – recorded in Costinescu's dictionary.^[11]
• 1931 – the plurals antidoturi and antidote in CADE.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A substance that counters the action of a poison, a virus or the like in the body; an antidote, a counterpoison.^[5][4]
2. (figurative) A remedy or cure for something bad: Râsul e cel mai bun antidot împotriva fricii.^[5][12]
3. (rare) A cure that undoes a bad spell.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. antidot
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. antidot
4. ^ 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, 70
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 47
6. ^ a b c d 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. antidot
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. antidotum
8. ^ 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. antidot
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 27
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. antidot
11. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 48
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. antidot