autentic

Forms

autentic m or n (feminine singular autentică, masculine plural autentici, feminine/neuter plural autentice)^[1] Cantemir wrote avthentic, from the Greek: „însă cinstea numelui de istoric avthentic […] să-i dăm nu vedem” “but we do not see that we should give him the honour of the name of an authentic historian”.^[2][3] The form autendic occurs in 1835.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French authentique, together with Latin authenticus (“original, genuine”).^[5][3][6] Ciorănescu takes it from French and, earlier, from Latin, and the DA from Latin alone.^[7][2] Cantemir's older form “avtentic” comes directly from Modern Greek αυθεντικός (afthentikós).^[3][4]

The Latin adjective of the jurists and Church Fathers is from Ancient Greek αὐθεντικός (authentikós), derived from αὐθέντης (authéntēs, “author, perpetrator”).^{[8][9][3][10]} The Greek noun joins αὐτο- (auto-, “self”) to an agent noun “*héntēs” “one who accomplishes”, from the root of ἀνύω (anúō, “to accomplish”).^[3][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dimitrie Cantemir's Hronicul vechimei romano-moldo-vlahilor (1717–1723), in the form avthentic, of a historian who can be trusted; a marginal note glosses it „izvoditoriul de crezut” “the trustworthy chronicler”.^[3][2][11] The form autentic appears in 1802, in Samuil Micu.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word meant “trustworthy, genuine, beyond doubt”, of a text, an author or a fact.^[2] In law it qualifies a deed whose certainty is guaranteed by an official act or legal formality; the civil code's act autentic is drawn up with the solemnities the law requires by a public officer.^[2][5] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 gives only the legal sense.^[12] The sense “recognised as the work of an author or of a period” is used of manuscripts and works of art.^[5][6]

Romanian formed or borrowed a family around the word: autenticitate about 1832, from French authenticité, and autentifica in 1881, from authentifier.^[3]

Timeline

• 1717–1723 – avthentic in Cantemir's Hronic, the first record.^[3][11]
• c. 1800 – the Transylvanian verb autentica “to authenticate”, in Samuil Micu.^[3]
• 1802 – the form autentic in Samuil Micu.^[3]
• c. 1832 – autenticitate.^[3]
• 1835 – the form autendic.^[4]
• 1881 – autentifica in Eminescu.^[3]
• 1932 – inautentic.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That agrees with the truth, whose reality cannot be doubted; genuine, recognised as the work of an author or a period: un tablou autentic.^[5][6]
2. (law) Of a deed: drawn up with all legal formalities, authenticated: un testament autentic.^[5][6]

Word family

• autentica
• autenticitate
• autentifica
• inautentic

Related words

• autor
• French authentique
• Latin authenticus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. autentic
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. autentic
4. ^ a b c Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 155
5. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 75
6. ^ 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, 131
7. ^ 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. autentic
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. autentic
12. ^ 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. autentic