autoritate

Forms

autoritate f (plural autorități)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin au(c)tōritās, with French autorité as a second model.^[2][3] DELR and MDA2 give both sources, while Wiktionary names French alone, the DA calls the word a neologism after French, and Tiktin adds Italian autorità as a further model.^[1][4][5] The oldest recorded forms go back to the Latin word, while the modern form follows the French one.^[2]

The Latin noun is formed on auctor (“guarantor, author”) with the suffix -tās, and its base comes from augeō (“to increase”).^[2][6][1] The French word is an old borrowing from the same Latin noun, recorded from 1119.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the form avtoritas in the chronicle of Gheorghe Brancovici, written in 1684–1687, with the sense of a right to command.^[2] Tiktin has the word in a protocol of 1762, and MDA2's first record is a document of before 1817 printed in the Uricariul.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Old variants include auctoritate, avtoritate, autoritaș and otoritate.^[2] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) already gives the three main senses: legitimate power, the people who hold it, and the weight of a respected opinion.^[8] In the plural the word came to name the offices of state themselves, autoritățile civile și militare.^[9][10]

The legal phrase autoritatea lucrului judecat names the rule that a case decided for good cannot be brought to court again.^[3] In the 19th century the word gave the adjective autoritar (1874) and the noun autoritarism (1870), both taken from French, and later autoritarist (1937).^[2]

Timeline

• 1684–1687 – avtoritas in Gheorghe Brancovici's chronicle, the first record.^[2]
• 1762 – autoritate in a protocol.^[5]
• early 19th century – autoritatea in Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada.^[5]
• before 1817 – a document printed in the Uricariul.^[3]
• 1848 – listed among the neologisms in Negulici's dictionary.^[8]
• 1870 – autoritarism, from French.^[2]
• 1874 – autoritar, from French.^[2]
• 1937 – autoritarist.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. influence that is generally accepted, held by a person, an organization or an institution in some area of social life.^[11]
2. (law) The power or right to give orders and to make others obey.^[11][3]
3. A body of state power with the right to take measures and issue binding orders; also a person who represents such a body; in the plural, the authorities.^[11][12]
4. prestige that someone or something enjoys; a person respected for knowledge and standing, an expert.^[13][14]

Word family

• autoritar
• autoritarism
• autoritarist

Related words

• autor
• Latin auctōritās

Usage notes

Autoritatea lucrului judecat is the term of law for res judicata.^[3] The word is pronounced with the vowels a-u in separate syllables.^[3][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. autoritate
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 141
4. ^ 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. autoritate
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. autoritate
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. autorité
8. ^ 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. s.v. autoritate
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 139
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. autoritate
11. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 79
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. autoritate
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 75
14. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. autoritate