conform

Forms

Adjective: feminine conformă, plural conformi (masculine), conforme (feminine and neuter); as an adverb and preposition invariable, with the dative or with cu.^[2][3][1] Costinescu's vocabulary of 1870 spells it conformŭ.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French conforme (“conforming, in accordance”).^{[5][6][2][7][1]} The French word was borrowed from Late Latin cōnfōrmis (“of the same shape, entirely alike”), formed from con- and fōrma (“shape”).^[5] Negulici in 1848 and Scriban also name the Latin word.^[8][9]

The verb conforma “to conform” was borrowed separately, from French se conformer and perhaps Italian conformarsi.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates it to about 1830 and DELR finds it in Iordache Golescu about 1832, with the sense “in agreement with, corresponding”.^[7][5] MDA2's first record is a document of 1856 in the Uricariul, which speaks of a certified copy of a charter, „copia conformă a pomenitului hrisov”.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first meant “of the same form, the same content” and “matching, corresponding”: Negulici's example is a life suited to one's station and taste, and Negruzzi writes of the spelling most conform to the language.^[8][3] Negulici already noted the adverb, “in a conforming way, in keeping with”.^[8]

The adverb became a preposition, “according to”, construed with cu or the dative: conform cu legea or conform legii “according to the law”.^[3][9] Barcianu's dictionary of 1886 already lists it as a preposition.^[10] Costinescu gives pentru copie conformă as the equivalent of French pour copie conforme.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1830 – the first record.^[7]
• c. 1832 – in Iordache Golescu.^[5]
• 1848 – konform, adjective and adverb, in Negulici.^[8]
• 1856 – copia conformă “the certified copy” of a charter, in the Uricariul.^[6][3]
• 1886 – listed as a preposition, “according to”.^[10]
• 1919 – the derivative conformism.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of documents, copies) Having the same content; identical: o copie conformă cu actul inițial.^[2][6]
2. corresponding, in keeping with something.^[2][6]

Preposition

1. according to, in accordance with, with the dative: conform regulamentului “according to the rules”.^[2][6][1]
2. In the same way as, like.^[6][2]

Word family

• anticonformism
• conforma
• conformator
• conformism
• conformitate
• neconformism
• nonconformism

Related words

• formă
• French conforme

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 220
3. ^ a b c d e 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. conform
4. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 231
5. ^ 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. conform
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, 485
7. ^ 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. conform
8. ^ a b c d Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. conform
9. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 332
10. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 128