clinică

Forms

clinică f (plural clinici)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French clinique, with German Klinik as a second source in DELR and Tiktin.^[2][3] DEX, MDA2, Wiktionary and the DLRM name French alone, the DA French with the German noun compared, and DN French with Italian clinica beside it.^{[4][5][1][6][7][8]}

The French word was borrowed in 1586 from Latin clīnicus and its noun clīnicē (“medicine practised at the bedside”), modelled on Ancient Greek κλινική (klinikḗ), the feminine of κλινικός (klinikós, “of the bed, of the sick-bed”).^[9][2] This comes from κλίνη (klínē, “bed”), from κλίνω (klínō, “to lean, incline”).^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1829.^[2][3] The noun is older in Romanian than the adjective clinic, which DELR and Tiktin first find in 1840.^[2][10] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 explains clinica as the lessons a professor of medicine gives at the patient's bed, showing how treatment is applied.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word first named medical teaching at the bedside, then the hospital where students learn to care for the sick, and by extension any hospital, often a private one run by one or more doctors.^[12][13][7] It also names the medical discipline based on the direct observation of patients.^[4][5] The family grew in the 20th century with clinician and policlinică, both recorded from 1930 and both from French, and with subclinic (1969) and paraclinic (1978).^[2]

Timeline

• 1829 – the first record.^[2][3]
• 1840 – the adjective clinic.^[2]
• 1870 – Costinescu defines it as bedside teaching of medicine.^[11]
• 1930 – clinician and policlinică.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. clinic: a hospital, or a ward of one, in which future doctors are trained at the bedside under their professors.^[4][5][1]
2. By extension, a hospital or medical institution, public or private, where a specialist gives consultations or treatment.^[7][8]
3. The medical discipline based on the direct observation of patients.^[4][5]

Related words

• French clinique

Usage notes

DEX, MDA2 and MDN give the noun under one headword with the adjective clinic “clinical”, whose feminine singular is also clinică.^{[4][5][14][1]}

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. clinic
3. ^ 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. clinică
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 196
5. ^ 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, 435
6. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. clinică
7. ^ 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. clinică
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. clinică
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. clinique
10. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. clinic
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 203
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. clinică
13. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 140
14. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. clinic