asista

Forms

asista (third-person singular present asistă, past participle asistat) first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French assister, according to DELR, Wiktionary and DEX.^[2][1][3] MDA2, the neologism dictionaries and NODEX also name Latin assistō (“to stand beside, be present”), and Tiktin gives Italian assistere beside the French verb.^[4][5][6] The Latin verb is formed ad- + sistō (“to cause to stand, stop”), the reduplicated verb of stō (“to stand”).^[2][7] The French verb is a borrowing from the Latin one, recorded since 1372.^[7]

The old variant asistălui is from the Italian verb, fitted into the class of Romanian verbs in -ălui.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An isolated record of the variant asistălui dates from 1699.^[2][6] The modern verb is recorded from 1842, in Cuciuran, with the senses “to be present” and “to take part, help”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Both senses of the French verb came in together: intransitive “to be present (at)” and transitive “to stand by someone to help him”.^[2][3] The DA calls the transitive sense a Gallicism, and gives the example of a lawyer who assists his client at the trial.^[8] The DA also notes a present asistez beside the usual asist in some Moldavian writers, as Alecsandri in Dacia literară.^[8]

The family grew in the 19th century: asistență “help; audience” is recorded from 1805 and asistent “assistant” from 1842.^[2]

Timeline

• 1699 – the variant asistălui, an isolated record.^[2][6]
• 1805 – asistenție, the old form of asistență.^[2]
• 1842 – asista and asistent in Cuciuran.^[2]
• 1848 – assistare “to be present” in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be present at, attend or witness an event: Am asistat la deschiderea expoziției.^[3][4]
2. (transitive) To assist someone: to stand by them to help or defend them.^[3][1]
3. (law, transitive) Of a lawyer, to appear beside a person before a court to defend their interests.^[10][5]

Word family

• asistență
• asistent

Related words

• French assister

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. asista
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 68
4. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 112
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. asista
6. ^ 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. asista
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. assister
8. ^ 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. asista
9. ^ 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. assistare
10. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. asista