atrăgător

Forms

atrăgător m or n (feminine singular atrăgătoare, masculine plural atrăgători, feminine/neuter plural atrăgătoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian atrage + -ător, the adjective of the verb atrage (“to attract”).^[2][3][1][4] The DA calls it the verbal adjective of the verb, made with the agent suffix.^[5] DELR lists it in the family of the verb, beside the French loans atractiv and atracție.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1830, in a text of M. Drăghici, with the sense “which attracts”.^[6] Tiktin's first record is of 1840.^[4] MDA2 starts from Alecsandri's poems (1875).^[3] The DA quotes his line to the sea, „Tu ești atrăgătoare, Ca visul început” “you are alluring, like a dream just begun”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The DA gives a literal sense, “which attracts”, and a figurative one, “which has something pleasant in it that draws you”.^[5] DELR notes that today only the figurative sense is used.^[6] MDA2 lists ten shades of meaning, among them “arousing love”, “tempting”, “fascinating” and “promising great advantages”, with atractiv and the old atracțios as synonyms; a very rare old sense is “causing”.^[3] CADE gives neatrăgător as its opposite.^[7]

Timeline

• 1830 – first record, in M. Drăghici, “which attracts”.^[6]
• c. 1832 – the synonym atractiv, a French loan, in I. Golescu.^[6]
• 1840 – the first record Tiktin gives.^[4]
• 1875 – Alecsandri's poems, the first record in MDA2.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. attractive, appealing: drawing others by its pleasant qualities; a synonym of atractiv: o fată atrăgătoare.^[2][3][1]
2. Promising benefits or satisfaction; pleasing: o ofertă atrăgătoare.^[2][8]
3. tempting, alluring.^[3][9]

Related words

• atractiv
• atracție
• trage

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 73
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 125
4. ^ 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. atrăgător
5. ^ a b c 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. atrăgător
6. ^ a b c d e 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. atrage
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. atrăgător
8. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 53
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. atrăgător