atitudine

Forms

atitudine f (plural atitudini)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian attitudine and French attitude, the French word being itself taken from Italian.^[2] DEX, DN and MDN also name both languages,^[3][4][5] while the DA, MDA2, Tiktin and Wiktionary give Italian alone.^[6][7][8][1]

The origin of the Italian word is debated, and DELR reports two views: a reconstructed Vulgar Latin *actitūdō, formed on Latin actitō, the frequentative of agō (“to do, act”), as the TLF has it, or a formation on āctus (“act, movement of the body”), as DELI and the Treccani have it.^[2] Nocentini derives the Italian word in the sense “posture” from the same Latin noun, on the model of its older homonym meaning “capacity”,^[9] which DELI traces to Late Latin aptitūdō, from aptus (“fit”).^[10] The DA and Wiktionary derive the Romanian word through Italian from this Latin noun and call it a doublet of aptitudine.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the variant atitudă in I. Golescu's Condica, about 1832; it marks the sense “bearing or position of the body” as old.^[2] Tiktin dates the word to 1834.^[8] MDA2 takes its first record from Maiorescu's parliamentary speeches, which the DA quotes for professors whose attitude was incompatible with their mission.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The DA defined the word as a posture of the body that answers to a state of mind, with “a way of being or behaving towards someone” as a figurative sense.^[6] DEX keeps the bodily posture first and then the way of being or behaving, which often reflects a particular view; the phrase a lua atitudine means to state one's position firmly.^[3][4] DELR records an older variant atitudină and the rare adjective atitudinal “relating to attitude” from 1921, formed on atitudine and perhaps also modelled on Italian attitudinale.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – the variant atitudă in I. Golescu's Condica, the first record.^[2]
• 1834 – Tiktin's first date for atitudine.^[8]
• 1921 – the adjective atitudinal.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The posture or bearing of the body.^[3][7]
2. A way of being or behaving, often reflecting a view; attitude, stance: a lua atitudine “to take a stand”.^[3][7]

Word family

• atitudinal

Related words

• aptitudine

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. atitudine
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 72
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. atitudine
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. atitudine
6. ^ 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. atitudine
7. ^ 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, 123
8. ^ 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. atitudine
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli