chestiune

Forms

chestiune f (plural chestiuni)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French question (“question”) and directly borrowed from Latin quaestiō (“a seeking; inquiry, question”), a neologism of the 19th century.^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu gives only the French word, Scriban only the Latin one.^[5][6] The Latin noun is formed from quaerō (“to seek, to ask”) with the suffix -tiō.^[2][1][7] The French word is itself a learned loan of the Latin one, recorded about 1119, which kept its ⟨s⟩ before a consonant.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the word to 1823, in the variant cvestie, meaning a problem or topic that someone is concerned with.^[2] Tiktin's first record is of 1833.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were a question put to someone to learn or clear up something, and a question put to a pupil or candidate.^[10][11] From these came the point to be examined or debated, as in chestiune de drept “point of law”, and a political issue such as the chestiunea Orientului “the Eastern Question”.^[9][12] Scriban also records the older sense of judicial torture.^[6] In colloquial speech the shortened chestie came to mean any happening, matter or thing.^[4][2] The derivatives came from French too: chestionar “questionnaire” in 1856 and chestiona “to question” in 1857.^[2]

Timeline

• 1823 – the variant cvestie, the first record.^[2]
• 1833 – chestiune, Tiktin's first record.^[9]
• 1856 – chestionar “questionnaire” in Barasch.^[2]
• 1857 – chestiona “to question”.^[2]
• 1929 – chestionat “questioning”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A matter, issue or topic that is discussed or dealt with: o chestiune de principiu “a matter of principle”;^[4][13][1] în chestiune “in question, under discussion”.^[4][13][1]
2. A question put to a pupil or a candidate.^[4][3]
3. (colloquial) A happening or a thing of any kind; usually in the form chestie.^[4][14]

Related words

• chestie
• chestiona
• chestionar
• Latin quaestiō

Usage notes

The colloquial variant chestie is the usual everyday form; old variants were cestie, cestiune and cvestie.^[2][4] Tiktin records a colloquial plural chestioane of chestie.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. chestiune
3. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 375
4. ^ 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. 1, 177
5. ^ 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. chestiune
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 266
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. quaestiō
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. question
9. ^ 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. chestiune
10. ^ 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. chestiune
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. chestiune
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 123
13. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. chestiune
14. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 138