artificiu

Forms

artificiu n (plural artificii)^[1] Older variants are artifície, artifíție and artifíțiu.^[2] The DA explains artifiție by the German pronunciation of Latin words and takes it from Polizu's dictionary.^[3] Tiktin quotes it from a text of Bogdan.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French artifice and a learned loan borrowed from Latin artificium: DELR, DEX and MDA2 name both sources, a case of multiple etymology.^[2][5][6][4] The DA calls it a neologism after French, but with the form of the Latin word.^[3] Marcu and Maneca put Italian artificio first, with Latin, and compare French;^[7][8] Marcu's later dictionary has the Latin word on the French model.^[7][8] Wiktionary gives French alone.^[1] DELR notes that the French word first meant “mastery, craft”.^[2]

The Latin word, “skill, craftsmanship; trade; trick”, is formed from artifex (“craftsman, artist”) with -ium,^[9][1][2] and that noun from ars (“art, skill”) and faciō (“to make”).^[2][10] Graur lists the word in the family of the Latin word for “art”, with artă and inert.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the plural artificii in a calendar printed at Vienna in 1794.^[2] Tiktin dates the word to 1834.^[4] The DA quotes the phrase foc de artificii “fireworks” from the Uricariul collection of documents.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Two lines of meaning came in with the word.^[3] The first is a skilful procedure, then a contrivance that adorns or disguises reality: Maiorescu praised Romanian folk poetry for its lack of any artificiu.^[3] In a bad sense it is a ruse or deceit, the sense Negulici (1848), Pontbriant (1862) and Laurian and Massim give beside “skill”.^[12][13][14] The second is pyrotechnics, mostly in the plural and in foc de artificii;^[3][10] French feu d'artifice itself follows Italian fuoco artifiziale.^[3][10] Odobescu used the fireworks figuratively, for showy literary writing without real worth.^[3]

Modern dictionaries add the set phrase artificiu de calcul, a shortcut in a calculation, and the sparkler, a short wire tipped with the burning mixture.^[5][15] The derivatives came in from French and Latin at the same time: artificial in 1813, artificios in 1834–1835 and artificier in 1839.^[2]

Timeline

• 1794 – the plural artificii in a calendar printed at Vienna, the first record.^[2]
• 1813 – the adjective artificiale “artificial” in Petru Maior.^[2]
• 1834 – Tiktin's first record of the noun.^[4]
• 1834–1835 – artifițios “artificial, contrived”.^[2]
• 1839 – artifițer “pyrotechnist” in Vaillant's dictionary.^[2]
• 1848 – Negulici glosses it “finesse, skill (cunning)”.^[12]
• 1862 – Pontbriant gives “artifice, stratagem, ruse” and foc de artificiu “firework”.^[13]
• 1873 – artificialitate “artificiality” in Hasdeu.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ingenious device or procedure used to embellish or alter reality; a needless ornament;^[5][6] Poezia lui nu are nevoie de artificii.^[5][6]
2. artificiu de calcul: a shortcut that reaches the result of a calculation more quickly and cleverly than the usual way.^[5]
3. A specious argument in support of a thesis;^[6] (literary) a trick.^[6]
4. (mostly plural) A mixture of chemicals and fuels that burns with bright colours, used for signals and display: fireworks;^[5][6] foc de artificii “fireworks display”.^[5][6]
5. A sparkler: a short wire tipped with this mixture, which burns throwing off small sparks.^[5][6]

Word family

• artificial
• artificialitate
• artificier
• artificios
• artificiozitate
• neartificial

Related words

• artă

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. artificiu
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. artificiu
4. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. artificiu
5. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 64
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 104
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. artificiu
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. artificiu
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 21
12. ^ 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. artificiu
13. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 47
14. ^ Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani
15. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 46