atac

Forms

atac n (plural atacuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French attaque.^[2][3][4][1] The DELR names Italian attacco beside the French word, Tiktin the Italian alone, and the DA gives French with Italian as a parallel.^[5][6][7] The French word is a noun formed from the verb attaquer.^[1][8] Gabinschi notes that the French and Italian verbs are of Germanic origin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DELR's first record is in Piuariu-Molnar, about 1800;^[5][6] Tiktin's is in Șincai's chronicle, about 1812.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The military sense came first and remained the main one, as in Bălcescu: „Atacul se făcu numai asupra aripei stânge și centrului” “the attack was made only on the left wing and the centre”.^[6][7] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 gives attac both as “insult, provocation” and as “start of a battle, assault”.^[9] The figurative “insult, slight” lived on in town speech, as in Caragiale's characters.^[7][3] In medicine it named a sudden fit of illness, atac de nervi “fit of nerves”, and popularly a stroke, or tuberculosis: a murit de atac “he died of consumption”.^[6][10][2] Sport took it for the initiative in a game and for the forward line of a team, law for a means of challenging a court decision, and phonetics for the onset of a vowel.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1800 – first record, in Piuariu-Molnar.^[5]
• c. 1812 – in Șincai's chronicle.^[6]
• 1840 – atacabil and atacant are recorded.^[5]
• 1848 – attac “insult; assault” in Negulici.^[9]
• 1870 – atacator and inatacabil in Costinescu's dictionary.^[5]
• 1873 – contraatac “counter-attack” in Maiorescu.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An attack or offensive by armed forces; its decisive moment;^[2][3][1] atacul also the trumpet call that starts it.^[2][3][1]
2. An aggression against a person or a state.^[2][3]
3. (sports) the initiative in a game; the forward line of a team.^[2][3]
4. A sustained campaign, spoken or written, against a situation, a theory or its supporters;^[2][3] (law) cale de atac a means of appeal against a court decision.^[2][3]
5. A sudden, violent onset of an illness: atac de panică “panic attack”, atac de cord “heart attack”;^[2][11] (popular) a stroke; tuberculosis.^[2][11]
6. (phonetics) the movement of the vocal cords that starts a vowel.^[2]

Word family

• ataca
• atacabil
• contraatac

Related words

• atacant
• atacator
• French attaque

Usage notes

An old atac “bedroom” is a variant of iatac.^[3][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 70
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 120
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. atac
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ataca
6. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. atác
7. ^ 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. atac
8. ^ a b Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 66
9. ^ 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. 52
10. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. vol. 1, s.v. atac
11. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. atac