categorie

Forms

categorie f (plural categorii)^[1] The older form catigorie, with the Modern Greek pronunciation, was used mainly in the sense “calumny”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French catégorie, with the learned borrowed from Latin categoria as a second model.^[4][5][6][1] Tiktin names Modern Greek κατηγορία (katigoría) beside the Latin, and DER gives the Greek as the source of the older form.^[7][2] The Latin word comes from Ancient Greek κατηγορία (katēgoría, “accusation; predication”), from κατηγορέω (katēgoréō, “to accuse, to assert”), formed on κατά (katá) and ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak in public”), from ἀγορά (agorá, “assembly, marketplace”).^[4][8]

The form catigorie “calumny”, recorded from 1819, is a separate borrowing from Modern Greek with the Greek sense “accusation”.^[4][9][3] It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian cătigurie (“calumny”).^[2][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dimitrie Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică of 1705, in the Aristotelian sense: „Categorii sânt zece forme subt carile Aristotel toate ființele lucrurilor cuprinde” “There are ten categories, forms under which Aristotle comprehends the being of all things”.^[4][7][3]

Semantic evolution

The word entered as a term of logic and philosophy, the most general kinds of predication.^[4][3] By the middle of the 19th century it also meant a class or rank of persons or things: a document of 1855 sorts monasteries into four categories, and Bălcescu speaks of the categories of the townspeople.^[3] Costinescu (1870) records the phrase de aceeași categorie “of the same kind”, said of things and of people with the same character.^[11][3] In the 20th century it gained the senses of biology and sport.^[5][6]

Beside it, the Phanariote catigorie meant “calumny, slander”, and the verb catigorisi “to accuse, to slander” is recorded from 1775.^[4][9][3] Categorisi “to classify” is a later verb, from 1880.^[4]

Timeline

• 1705 – categorii in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică, the first record.^[4][7]
• 1775 – catigorisi “to accuse, slander”.^[4]
• 1819 – catigorie “calumny”.^[4][6][9]
• 1825 – the adjective categoricesc.^[4]
• 1829 – categoric.^[4]
• 1855 – the sense “class, rank”, in a document on monasteries.^[3]
• 1880 – categorisi “to classify”.^[4]
• 1894 – subcategorie.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy) A fundamental and most general concept expressing the essential properties and relations of things and phenomena.^[5][6]
2. A class or group of beings, things or phenomena of the same or a similar kind: o categorie socială “a social category”.^[5][12]
3. (biology) In categorie sistematică or taxonomică: each of the large groups of related plants or animals (classes, orders, families).^[5]
4. (sport) Each of the groups into which athletes or teams are divided by weight, age, sex or level: categorie de greutate “weight class”.^[5][6]

Word family

• categorematic
• categoremă
• categorial
• categoric
• categorisi
• recategorisi
• subcategorie

Usage notes

DA and MDA2 treat the obsolete categorie or catigorie “calumny”, from Modern Greek, as a separate word from the philosophical term.^[3][6]

References

1. ^ a b 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. categorie
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. categorie
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. categorie
5. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 152
6. ^ 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, 310
7. ^ 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. categorie
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda
10. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
11. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual