avion

Forms

avion n (plural avioane)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French avion (“aeroplane”), as all the dictionaries agree.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The French word was coined by the inventor Clément Ader in 1875 on Latin avis (“bird”).^[2][1] Wiktionary adds that it was formed with the suffix -on for a patent application and replaced the earlier aéroplane after the First World War.^[1] DELR treats it in the family of aviație, which French formed on the same Latin word.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is from the magazine Natura of 1910, with the sense “winged vehicle heavier than air, driven by engines”.^[2] MDA2 quotes it first from Camil Petrescu's novel Patul lui Procust.^[3] Scriban, in 1939, still glossed it with the synonym aeroplan.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word took over from aeroplan, which DEX and MDA2 still give as a synonym.^[4][3] New compounds followed: avion proiectil, a pilotless aircraft carrying explosives, and avion-capcană, a plane used as a weapon by terrorists, recorded in the press in 2001.^[3][7] In prison slang an avion is a message passed from cell to cell.^[8] Gagauz borrowed the word from Romanian as Gagauz avion.^[1]

Timeline

• 1875 – French avion coined by Clément Ader.^[2]
• 1894 – aviator used in Romanian for a flying machine, before it came to mean “pilot” in 1899.^[2]
• 1910 – first record of avion, in the magazine Natura.^[2]
• 1942 – avionetă “small aeroplane”, in Argetoianu.^[2]
• 2001 – avion-capcană “plane used as a terrorist weapon” in the press.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. aeroplane: an aircraft heavier than air, held up by wings and driven by engines; aeroplan.^[4][3][1]
2. Avion proiectil: a pilotless aircraft carrying an explosive or nuclear load.^[3][9]
3. (slang) A message passed secretly from one prison cell to another.^[8]

Related words

• aviație
• aviator
• avionetă
• aeroplan

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. aviație
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, 147
4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 81
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. avion
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 141
7. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. avion
8. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. avion
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. avion