condamna

Forms

condamna (third-person singular present condamnă, past participle condamnat) 1st conjugation^[1] In Moldavia the variant condemna was used.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French condamner (“to condemn”) in DEX, DELR, Wiktionary and the neologism dictionaries.^[4][2][5][1] MDA2 and Tiktin give a Latin source as well, borrowed from Latin condemnō (“to condemn”), and Ciorănescu takes it from Latin in the 19th century with the vowels of French.^[6][3][7] The variant condemna and the old condemnabil and condemnațiune follow the Latin.^[2]

The French verb is the 14th-century remaking, after damner, of Old French condemner, borrowed from Latin about 980.^[8] The Latin verb is con- (“thoroughly”) and damnō (“to condemn, damn”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1789, with the sense “to sentence”.^[2] Tiktin has 1794, and MDA2 a document from before 1865.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

From the legal sense the verb passed to “to disapprove of, blame” and, by analogy, to “to wall up, close for good” a door or window.^[2][7] Of a doctor it means to give up a patient as incurable.^[4][3] The family came in the 19th century: condamnabil and condamnat are recorded from 1848 in Negulici, condamnație from 1858.^[2]

Timeline

• 1789 – the first record.^[2]
• 1794 – Tiktin's first record.^[3]
• 1848 – condamnabil and condamnat in Negulici's dictionary.^[2]
• 1858 – condamnație in Ralet.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sentence, convict: to impose a penalty by a court judgment.^[4][1]
2. To condemn, disapprove of, blame.^[4][6]
3. To give up a sick person as beyond saving.^[4]
4. To block, close for good, wall up a door or window.^[4][2]
5. To force someone into something.^[5][6]

Word family

• condamnabil
• condamnare
• condamnat

Related words

• French condamner

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. condamna
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. condamna
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 218
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. condamna
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 481
7. ^ 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. condamna
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert