brutal

Forms

brutal m or n (feminine singular brutală, masculine plural brutali, feminine/neuter plural brutale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French brutal.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The neologism dictionaries also name Italian brutale and Medieval Latin brūtālis, and DEXI adds German brutal.^[6][7][8] The French word is a loan from that Medieval Latin word, “savage, stupid”, from brūtus (“dull, stupid”).^[1][9][8] DELR places it in the family of brut, beside the separate French loans brutalitate and brutaliza.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Piuariu-Molnar's Începuturi, published in the Academy's historical annals;^[2][5] DELR dates it 1798, with the sense “lacking delicacy, harsh, violent, coarse”, and Tiktin 1783.^[2][5] MDA2's first record is Vlahuță's Dan (1894).^[4]

Semantic evolution

Early 20th-century dictionaries give first the literal sense “of a brute, beastly”, as in poftă brutală “brutish appetite”, and then “coarse and violent”.^[10][11][9] Costinescu glossed it in 1870 as “beastly, barbarous, coarse, uncouth, excessively harsh”.^[12] DELR also records a Transylvanian brut “brute, animal without reason”, taken from Latin in 1806.^[2] Today the word means “harsh, violent” in behaviour, and “blunt, without regard for feelings”.^[3][13]

Timeline

• 1783–1798 – first record, in Piuariu-Molnar's Începuturi.^[2][5]
• 1806 – brut “brute” in Șincai.^[2]
• 1838 – the noun brutalitate, from French.^[2]
• 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary.^[12]
• 1886 – the verb brutaliza, from French.^[2]
• 1894 – Vlahuță's Dan, the first record in MDA2.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of people and their behaviour) brutal, harsh, violent; coarse and uncouth: un om brutal.^[3][4][1]
2. blunt, direct, without consideration for others: un răspuns brutal.^[3][8]

Adverb

1. Violently, harshly: a închis ușa brutal.^[4][8]

Related words

• brută
• brutalitate
• brutaliza
• brut
• abrutiza

Usage notes

DELR records a rare old variant brutalicesc.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. brut
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 121
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 250
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. brutal
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. brutal
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. brutal
8. ^ a b c d Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. brutal
9. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 199
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 80
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. brutal
12. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 127
13. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. brutal