aplica

Forms

aplica (third-person singular present aplică, past participle aplicat, third-person subjunctive aplice), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is a neologism borrowed from French appliquer (“to apply”).^[2][3][4] DEX, MDA2 and Marcu and Maneca also name borrowed from Latin applicō (“to attach, apply”).^[2][3][4] DELR adds borrowed from Italian applicare, and Tiktin names only the Latin and the Italian verbs.^[5][6] The Latin verb is formed from ad- and plicō (“to fold”).^[7][1] The sense “to apply (for a post or grant)” follows English apply.^[5][8]

The same Latin verb was inherited as apleca “to bend”, of which Wiktionary calls it a doublet.^[9][1] Pontbriant's dictionary of 1862 still sent the word to the entry for the inherited verb.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in a work of Micu of 1781, with the sense “to apply (a remedy, a law)”.^[6] DELR has the variant aplicălui in 1786 and the form aplica in 1819;^[5][6] Tiktin also lists the old variant aplicarisi.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Negulici in 1848 gives three senses: to put one thing on another so that it sticks, to apply a law or maxim to a case, and (reflexive) to work at something with zeal.^[11] The DA calls the reflexive “to devote oneself (to something)” a Gallicism, and records a Transylvanian use “to put someone to a trade”.^[12] In Romanian of the late 1990s a aplica also came to mean “to apply for a post, a grant or a competition”, after English;^[5][8][13] DELR and the slang dictionaries record it.^[5][8][13]

Timeline

• 1781 – the first record, in Micu.^[6]
• 1786 – the variant aplicălui.^[5]
• 1799 – applicabile “applicable”, proposed by Iorgovici as a new word.^[5]
• 1808 – aplicație “application” in Țichindeal.^[5]
• 1819 – the form aplica.^[5]
• 1848 – aplicare in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[11]
• 1998 – a aplica “to apply (for a post or grant)” in the press, after English.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To put one thing on another so as to fix or join them: a aplica un strat de lac.^[2][3]
2. (transitive) To put into practice; to use, apply (a method, a law, a theory): a aplica o regulă.^[2][14]
3. (transitive) To administer (a medical treatment); a aplica cuiva o corecție, to give someone a beating.^[2]
4. (transitive) To relate a general principle to a particular case.^[2][3]
5. (colloquial, transitive) To deal (a slap or a blow).^[3][12]
6. (reflexive, rare) To devote oneself (to something).^[4][3]
7. (intransitive, recent) To apply (for a post, a grant, a competition).^[5][8][13]

Word family

• aplicabil
• aplicabilitate
• aplicativ
• aplicativitate
• aplicație
• inaplicabil
• inaplicabilitate
• neaplicabil
• neaplicabilitate

Related words

• apleca
• explica
• complica
• implica

Usage notes

The noun aplică “ornament fixed on a surface; wall light” is a separate borrowing, from French applique, recorded from 1913–1914.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 54
3. ^ 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, 80
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. aplica
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. aplica
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. aplicá
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. aplicá
9. ^ 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. apleca
10. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 37
11. ^ 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. aplicare
12. ^ 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. aplica
13. ^ a b c Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. aplica
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. aplica