carnet

Forms

carnet n (plural carnete)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French carnet (“notebook”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]}

The French word is a diminutive in -et.^[2][6] DELR derives it from Old Occitan quern (“four sheets bound together”), from Latin quadernum or quaternum, from quaternī (“four each”), from quater (“four times”) and quattuor (“four”).^[2] The DA and Wiktionary make it a diminutive of the Old French quaer or caern, the ancestor of French cahier (“exercise book”).^[6][1] Scriban gives intermediate diminutive forms of the Old French word and compares caiet.^[7] Graur puts cazarmă (“barracks”) in the same Latin family, through quaterniō (“a group of four soldiers”) and French.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in I. Golescu's Condica, about 1832, in the sense “pocket notebook for notes”.^[2][5] MDA2 cites it only from a bookkeeping course of 1896.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Next to the notebook for personal notes came notebooks with printed headings for a particular purpose, such as the cheque book, carnet de cecuri.^[9][6] In the 20th century the word came to mean a small booklet that proves membership of an organisation or party, and an official record of a person's work, the carnet de muncă.^[10][3][4] In colloquial speech it is short for the driving licence.^[1] The press of the 1960s formed the compound carnet-bonier, a booklet of receipts.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – first record, in I. Golescu's Condica.^[2][5]
• 1896 – in a bookkeeping course, the first record MDA2 gives.^[3]
• 1927 – the diminutive carnețel.^[2]
• 1931 – carnet de cecuri “cheque book” in the CADE.^[9]
• 1964 – carnet-bonier in the press.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small pocket notebook, sometimes with printed dates and headings, for notes of all kinds.^[4][3][1]
2. A booklet-shaped document that shows its holder belongs to an organisation, association or party; a membership card: carnet de partid.^[4][10]
3. carnet de muncă: the employment record book, with a person's work history.^[4][3]
4. (informal) A driving licence.^[1]

Word family

• carnețel

Related words

• caiet

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. carnet
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, 300
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 147
5. ^ 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. carnet
6. ^ a b c 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. carnet
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 233
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. carnet
10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 339
11. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. carnet