compliment

Forms

compliment n (plural complimente)^[1] An old plural complimenturi occurs in the Moldavian chronicles: „de-i zicea complimenturi și-l mângâia” “who paid him compliments and soothed him”.^[2][3] Old variants are complement, complemânt, comploment and coploment.^[4][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian complimento, and also borrowed from French compliment, as DELR and Tiktin give it; the DA takes the old word from Italian and the later one after French.^[4][3][2] DEX and MDA2 give French alone, and DN names French, Italian and Spanish.^[5][6][7] The Italian word was borrowed from Spanish cumplimiento (“fulfilment (of a duty of courtesy)”), from cumplir (“to fulfil”), from Latin compleō (“to fill up, complete”).^[4][8] The Spanish verb was used of carrying out the courtesies due to someone.^[8]

Scriban explains the word as the “fulfilment” of a formality of politeness, and notes that cumplit comes from the same Latin verb.^[9] Gabinschi groups it with complement as a doublet from the same Latin family.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is in Radu Greceanu's chronicle (1693–1714), in the form complement, in the sense “polite words, greetings”;^[4][3] Tiktin dates the same text to about 1714.^[4][3] MDA2 dates it from Gherasim Gorjan's Halima (1835).^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th-century chronicles the word meant the courtesies and greetings exchanged by envoys and princes.^[2][4] From polite words it came to mean flattering words, and in the plural greetings sent through another person.^[5] It also named a respectful bow, and Tiktin and the CADE record a festive poem of greeting, recited by children to their parents.^[5][3][11] DLRM lists a rare sense “gift”.^[12]

Timeline

• 1693–1714 – complement in Radu Greceanu's chronicle, the first record.^[4][3]
• 1792 – the verb complimenta, first as complimenti.^[4]
• 1835 – in Gorjan's Halima.^[6]
• 1840 – complimentos “given to compliments” in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[4]
• 1870 – Costinescu records fără complimente “without ceremony”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A compliment: words of praise or flattery showing friendship, esteem or respect;^[5][6] fără compliment “without flattery, frankly”.^[5][6]
2. (in the plural) Greetings sent to someone through another person: Transmite-i complimente de la noi.^[5][6]
3. A respectful bow of the head or body; a plecăciune.^[5][6]

Word family

• complimenta
• complimentos

Related words

• complement
• cumplit
• French compliment

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. compliment
3. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. compliment
4. ^ 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. compliment
5. ^ 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. 213
6. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 474
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. compliment
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 324
10. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 83
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. compliment
12. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. compliment
13. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 222