aproba

Forms

aproba (third-person singular present aprobă, past participle aprobat), 1st conjugation^[1] Early in the 19th century Transylvania also had aprobălui, made like probălui: „Cu toate ale lor nu le aprobăluesc” “I do not approve of all their doings”, in a letter of Bishop Moga of 1814.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowed from Latin approbō (“to approve”), with Italian approbare as a second source.^[3][4] DEX, MDA2, Tiktin, the DA and Wiktionary name Latin alone.^{[5][6][7][2][1]} The Latin verb is formed ad- + probō (“to test; to judge good”), from probus (“good”).^[3][1] The older variant ⟨aprobălui⟩ comes from Hungarian aprobál, with the Hungarian suffix of loan verbs.^[3] The inherited Romance descendants of the Latin verb include Italian approvare, French approuver and Spanish aprobar.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Hungarian-type form aprobălui “to approve”, in Oltenian documents of 1718–1739 published by Papacostea.^[3] Aproba itself is first recorded in 1794, in the calendar printed at Vienna.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Two senses run side by side: to agree with an opinion or act, and to grant a request officially, the sense of administrative language;^[2][9] se aprobă “approved” is the formula an official writes on a petition.^[2][9] An old reflexive meant to think one's own conduct right.^[6][2] Barițiu's Hungarian–Romanian dictionary of 1869 gives aproba for several Hungarian verbs of approving.^[10]

The family grew from Latin and French models: aprobator in 1691–1697, aprobație with aprobălui, aprobativ in 1840 and dezaproba, after French désapprouver, about 1832.^[3]

Timeline

• 1718–1739 – aprobălui and aprobație in Oltenian documents.^[3]
• 1794 – aproba in the Vienna calendar.^[3][7]
• 1814 – aprobălui in a letter of Bishop Moga.^[2]
• c. 1832 – dezaproba.^[3]
• 1840 – aprobativ.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To approve of an action, opinion or proposal; to agree with someone.^[5][6][1]
2. To grant a request or proposal officially.^[5][11]
3. (reflexive, obsolete) To consider one's own conduct right.^[6]

Word family

• aprobat
• aprobativ
• aprobator
• aprobație
• dezaproba
• dezaprobativ
• dezaprobator

Usage notes

Se aprobă is the set formula by which an authority grants a written request.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. aproba
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. aproba
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. aproba
5. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 56
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 83
7. ^ 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. aproba
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 37
10. ^ Barițiu, George (1869), Dictionariu unguresc-romanescu, Brașov, p. 232
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. aproba