combinație

Forms

combinație f (plural combinații)^[1] The Latinizing form combinațiune was also used and is now obsolete.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin combīnātiō (“a joining two by two”), a learned borrowing, according to DELR, DEX, Tiktin and Wiktionary.^[4][2][3][1] DELR adds that its later senses follow French combinaison, which MDA2 gives as the source.^[4][5] Marcu and Maneca compare Italian combinazione, and Wiktionary allows a borrowing from it.^[6][1] By surface analysis it is combina with the suffix -ție.^[1]

The Latin noun is formed combīnō (“to unite two by two”) and -tiō.^[1] The verb is made con- and bīnī (“two each”).^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1813, in a manifesto, with the sense of joining things together.^[4][3] MDA2's first record is the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The verb combina is recorded later, from 1832, as combinare.^[4] The chemical sense, a union of elements that forms a compound and the compound itself, is in the dictionaries of the 20th century.^[2][8] A colloquial sense “arrangement, plan” gave the phrase a intra în combinație cu cineva “to team up with someone”.^[2][5]

In slang the word came to mean a shady deal, and in prisons an exchange of cigarettes.^[1][9] Ciorănescu also records the sense “love tryst”, and a newspaper of 2001 uses it for a prostitute's encounter with a client.^[10][11] Combinagiu “schemer” is recorded before 1936.^[4]

Timeline

• 1813 – first record, in a manifesto.^[4][3]
• 1825 – in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[5]
• 1832 – the verb, as combinare, in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[4]
• 1871 – combinabil “combinable”.^[4]
• before 1936 – combinagiu “schemer” in M. I. Caragiale.^[4]
• 2001 – the slang sense of a paid encounter in the press.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A joining or putting together, a combination.^[2][1]
2. (colloquial) An arrangement, plan or calculation: a intra în combinație cu cineva “to team up with someone”.^[2][5]
3. (chemistry) A reaction in which atoms or molecules unite into a new molecule, and the substance it produces, a compound.^[2][5]
4. (slang) A shady or illegal deal, also a casual love affair.^[1][10][9]

Related words

• combina
• combinezon
• combinagiu

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 209
3. ^ 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. combinație
4. ^ 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. combina
5. ^ 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, 468
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 499
9. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu
10. ^ a b 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. combina
11. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)