comitet

Forms

comitet n (plural comitete)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian комитет (komitet) and French comité.^[2][3][4] The Academy dictionary calls it a French neologism that also came in through Russian, and Tiktin likewise takes it indirectly from French, comparing Russian.^[5][6] MDA2 adds Latin, Italian comitato and German Komitee to the possible models.^[7][8]

The Russian word is from French.^[2] The Bulgarian etymological dictionary thinks the Russian more likely came from an older German form.^[9] The French word adapts English committee, from the verb commit (“to entrust”), from committō (“to bring together; to entrust”).^[2][10] Its base is mittō (“to send”).^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is a document of 1809, in the sense of a group chosen from a larger assembly for a set task.^[2] Tiktin's first record is from 1810.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Early records name bodies of the administration: comitetul sănătății “the health committee” in 1818, and a committee with its own chancery in 1827.^[5][7] In 1848 a committee of ten men was elected.^[5] Later names include comitet permanent, a body of county councillors that advised the prefect, and comitet de lectură, the board that read plays for the National Theatres.^[5][12] Under communism comitet central and comitet executiv were the leading bodies of the party and of the people's councils.^[7][4] Colloquial de comitet “decent, likeable”, as in băiat de comitet, is recorded in the press from 1982.^[13]

Timeline

• 1809 – first record, in a document.^[2]
• 1810 – Tiktin's first record.^[6]
• 1818 – comitetul sănătății “the health committee”.^[5]
• 1827 – a committee's chancery.^[7][5]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary.^[14]
• 1881 – the derivative subcomitet “subcommittee”.^[2]
• 1982 – colloquial băiat de comitet “a decent fellow”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A committee: a body that collectively leads an organization, political, civic or of the state: comitet de părinți, comitet de redacție “editorial board”.^[3][15]
2. comitet central: (historical) the highest body of a communist or workers' party between two congresses.^[7][4]
3. de comitet: (colloquial) decent, likeable.^[13]

Word family

• subcomitet

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. comitet
3. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 211
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. comitet
5. ^ a b c d e f 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. comitet
6. ^ 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. comitét
7. ^ 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, 471
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 322
9. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 2, 573
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 60
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 151
13. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. comitet
14. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
15. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. comitet