centimetru

Forms

centimetru m (plural centimetri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French centimètre.^[2][3][4][1] The DA describes the French word as a compound of Latin centum (“hundred”) and mètre.^[5] The neologism dictionaries compare Italian centimetro.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1832.^[4] The DA quotes Climescu's arithmetic textbook for the unit, the tenth of a decimetre or the hundredth of a metre.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The 19th-century dictionaries have the unit of length: Pontbriant in 1862, Costinescu in 1870 and Damé in 1893.^[7][8][9] The DA records centimetru pătrat and centimetru cub.^[5] A neuter noun with the plural centimetre names the tape measure of tailors and shops.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1832 – the first record.^[4]
• 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[7]
• 1870 – “a hundredth of a metre” in Costinescu.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A centimetre, a hundredth of a metru;^[2][10][1] centimetru pătrat “square centimetre”, centimetru cub “cubic centimetre”.^[2][10][1]
2. (neuter) A tape measure, a narrow strip of oilcloth or metal with centimetre marks, used by tailors and in shops.^[2][11]

Related words

• metru
• French centimètre

Usage notes

The unit is masculine, plural centimetri; the tape measure is neuter, plural centimetre.^[2][3] MDA2 records a variant santimetru.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 169
3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 357
4. ^ 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. centimetru
5. ^ 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. centimetru
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. centimetru
7. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 120
8. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 176
9. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État
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, 386
11. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. centimetru