cabinet

Forms

cabinet n (plural cabinete)^[1] The oldest record has the Italian-type form gabinet: „în gabineturi (adecăte în casele domnești de taină)” “in the cabinets (that is, the private chambers of the prince)”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cabinet.^{[3][4][5][1][6]} The old variant gabinet is borrowed from Italian gabinetto, and Tiktin names both models.^[3][2] The French word is a diminutive of cabine with the suffix -et.^[1][7] Italian took it from French, as cabinetto in 1582 and in its present form in 1642.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and DELR date the first record to 1694, in the form gabinet and the sense “private chamber of the prince”.^[2][3] MDA2's first record is in Golescu's notes of his travels of 1824–1826.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Golescu uses it for a room where natural history collections are kept.^[6] The early dictionaries give a small private room for study or dressing, a reading room and a collection of rarities, and also the government, the council of ministers.^[9][10][11] As a euphemism it also meant a lavatory.^[11][6] Today it is above all the room where a professional works and the office of a person in charge, with phrases such as șef de cabinet “head of the private office”.^[5][4] DEX adds a small piece of furniture with drawers.^[5]

Timeline

• 1694 – gabinet “private chamber of the prince”.^[2][3]
• 1824–1826 – cabinet in Golescu's travel notes.^[4][6]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda gives a private chamber at court and a cabinet of rarities.^[10]
• 1870 – Costinescu gives the reading room, the dressing room and the ministry.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A room in a home or an institution used for professional work, such as a doctor's surgery.^[5][4][1]
2. The office of a person in charge: șef de cabinet “head of the private office”.^[5][4]
3. A room where museum or study collections are shown: cabinet de numismatică “coin cabinet”.^[5][4]
4. A department of an institution for specialised studies or consultations.^[5]
5. In some countries, the council of ministers, the government.^[5][11]
6. A small piece of furniture with drawers, a cabinet.^[5]

Related words

• cabină
• gabinet

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. cabinet
3. ^ a b c d e 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. cabină
4. ^ 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, 271
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 130
6. ^ a b c d 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. cabinet
7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. gabinetto
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli, p. s.v. gabinetto
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 134
10. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 77
11. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 213