chimic

Forms

chimic m or n (feminine singular chimică, masculine plural chimici, feminine/neuter plural chimice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French chimique, as the DEX, the MDA2, Tiktin and Wiktionary say;^[2][3][4][1] the DN also compares Italian chimico.^[5] DELR adds New Latin chimicus and German chemisch as models of the adjective, after Ursu, and notes Ciorănescu's view that it was formed in Romanian on chimie.^[6] The French adjective is formed chimie + -ique.^[1]

The noun meaning “chemist”, now obsolete and recorded earlier than the adjective, has a separate source: DELR's sources for it are the Italian word and Modern Greek χημικός (khimikós).^[6] The noun for chemistry goes back to New Latin chimia, from Byzantine Greek χημεία (khēmeía), which probably comes from the Greek name of Egypt, “the black land”, and was also written with ⟨υ⟩ by association with words for “juice”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the noun chimic “chemist” to 1790 and the adjective “of chemistry” to 1830;^[6][4] Tiktin also dates the word to 1790.^[6][4] Early forms had h- or ch-: hemic, chemic, himic.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The old noun for a chemist survived only in Transylvania, where the MDA2 records it, and was replaced by chimist, borrowed from French in 1829.^[3][6] Tiktin records the obsolete forms himic and chimicesc.^[4] Besides “of chemistry”, it came to mean “using chemical substances and methods”, as in curățătorie chimică “dry cleaner's”.^[2] Creion chimic was a copying pencil with a violet lead whose mark is hard to erase;^[2][3] from it Moldovan speech took chimic to mean simply “violet”.^[7] Marcu adds arme chimice “chemical weapons”.^[8] The plural noun chimicale “household chemicals” is recorded from 1949.^[6]

Timeline

• 1790 – the noun chimic “chemist”, from Italian and Greek; also the noun chimică “chemistry”.^[6][4]
• 1813 – chimie “chemistry”.^[6]
• 1829 – chimist “chemist”, from French.^[6]
• 1830 – the adjective “of chemistry”.^[6]
• 1871 – electrochimic.^[6]
• 1949 – chimicale “household chemicals”.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. chemical: belonging to or relating to chemistry: o reacție chimică.^[2][3]
2. Using substances and methods of chemistry: curățătorie chimică “dry cleaner's”.^[2]
3. creion chimic: a copying pencil with a violet lead whose mark is hard to rub out.^[2][3]
4. (regional, Moldova) violet.^[7]

Noun

1. (regional, Transylvania; dated) A chemist; chimist.^[3]

Word family

• chimicale

Related words

• chimie
• chimist

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. 178
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, 380
4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. chimic
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. chimic
6. ^ 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. chimie
7. ^ a b Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 57
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. chimic