cauțiune

Forms

cauțiune f (plural cauțiuni)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French caution, with Latin cautio as a second source, as DEX, MDA2 and DELR give it;^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} DA and CADE name French alone, Tiktin and Scriban Latin.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} The Latin word is formed from caveō (“to be on one's guard”) with the suffix -tiō and meant “precaution” and, concretely, “guarantee”.^[8][9] In French, written ⟨caucion⟩ about 1260, it kept the legal sense, while précaution took the general one.^[9]

The regional variant cauțion is from German Kaution.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is from 1787, in the old variant căuție;^[2][6] Tiktin's is from 1790.^[2][6] DA's oldest quotations come from a Pravila (law code), where a guardian must „dea căuție și chiezeșie” “give security and surety”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the language of law: a sum of money or goods that guarantees an obligation, then the money paid to release an arrested person until trial.^[3][4] In Transylvania, after Kaution, it also named the dowry that military regulations required for an officer's marriage.^[5] Older dictionaries record a figurative use: supus la cauțiune or supus cauțiunii, of a person one cannot rely on.^[10][7]

The verb cauționa “to guarantee” (1847) and the nouns cauționament (1870) and cauționator (1897) were taken from French or formed on it.^[2]

Timeline

• 1787 – căuție, the first record.^[2]
• 1790 – cauțiune in a document published by Iorga.^[6]
• 1847 – cauționa “to guarantee”.^[2]
• 1870 – cauționament “guarantee”.^[2]
• 1897 – cauționator “guarantor”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sum of money deposited to guarantee that a debtor will meet an obligation; a security deposit.^[3][4]
2. (law) bail: a sum paid for the provisional release of an arrested person, guaranteeing that he will appear at the inquiry, the trial and the sentence.^[3]
3. (by extension) A guarantee; garanție.^[3][4]

Word family

• cauționa
• cauționament
• cauționator
• contracauțiune

Related words

• cautelă
• precauție

Usage notes

The word is pronounced in four syllables, ca-u-ți-u-ne.^[3]

References

1. ^ 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. cauțiune
3. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 154
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, 313
5. ^ 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. cauțiune
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cauțiune
7. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 241
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cauțiune