birou

Forms

birou n (plural birouri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French bureau, partly also borrowed from Russian бюро́ (bjuró).^[2][3][4][1] MDA2 names both sources.^[5] The French word is from Old French burel, a diminutive of the name of a coarse cloth, from Late Latin burra (“wool, coarse fabric”).^[1] The DA and the Bulgarian etymological dictionary explain it the same way: the coarse woollen cloth that covered writing tables gave its name to the table.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1835, under the variant biuro.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The forms biuro and biurou followed the French spelling and are now obsolete.^[8][2] From the writing desk the name passed to the room where it stands, to an office or public service, and to the group of people elected to run an organization or a meeting.^[3][4][9] The family came from French too: birocrat and birocrație are recorded from 1848, in Kogălniceanu and Russo, and birocratic from 1855.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1835 – the first record, as biuro.^[3][8]
• 1848 – biurocrat in Kogălniceanu and birocrație in Russo.^[3]
• 1855 – biurocratic.^[3]
• 1910 – birocratizare.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A desk, a writing table with drawers.^[4][1]
2. An office: a room or premises where a person or a service works: Lucrează la birou până seara.^[4][5]
3. A bureau: the group of people elected to organize and run the work of an organization or a meeting.^[4][10]

Word family

• birocrat
• birocratic
• birocratism
• birocratiza
• birocrație

Usage notes

A rezolva din birou means to settle something without knowing the facts on the ground.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. birou
3. ^ 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. birou
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 106
5. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 211
6. ^ 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. birou
7. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 106
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. birou
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. birou
10. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. birou