congres

Forms

congres n (plural congrese)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowed from Latin congressus (“meeting, encounter”), with French congrès, itself borrowed from Latin, as a second source.^[2][3] The dictionaries weigh the two sources differently: the DA takes it from Latin with French as the model, Tiktin from Latin with French for comparison, while DEX and the neologism dictionaries put French first.^[4][5][6][7] Marcu also names English congress among the models, and Wiktionary gives only the French route.^[8][1]

The Latin noun is the action noun of congredior (“to meet; to fight”), from con- and gradior (“to step, walk”).^[2][9] French took it in the 16th century, first in the sense “sexual union”, later “meeting, assembly”.^[10] Graur lists the word in the Latin family of grad, with agresiune, progres and regres.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dumitrache's history of the events of 1769–1774, which DELR dates to 1782 and Tiktin to about 1775.^[2][5] There it names a meeting of the two warring sides to end a war: „să se adune la un congres, pentru ca să se contenească războiul” “that they should gather at a congress, so that the war might cease”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In 1848 Negulici still defined it as a meeting of sovereigns or ambassadors to negotiate peace and the interests of their states.^[12] Costinescu added the national assembly of the American republics in 1870.^[13] The DA gives the wider range of the early 20th century: any meeting of people who must decide on a set of questions, the congresses of scholars and journalists, the National Church Congress of the Orthodox Romanians, the joint sitting of the French chambers and the Congress of the United States.^[4] Writers also used it in jest for a family gathering: Eminescu's „un congres de rubedenii” “a congress of relatives”.^[4][14]

In the 20th century it came to name the supreme governing body of a party or mass organization, and some political parties themselves.^[6][8] Anton Pann has an isolated variant congrez.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1782 – congres “peace congress” in Dumitrache's history, the first record (about 1775 in Tiktin's dating).^[2][5]
• 1848 – defined by Negulici as an assembly of sovereigns or ambassadors.^[12]
• 1870 – Costinescu adds the legislative assembly of the American republics.^[13]
• 1900 – the adjective congresual in Barcianu's dictionary.^[2]
• 1924 – congresist “member of a congress”, from French or formed in Romanian.^[2]
• 1966 – congresmen “member of the United States Congress”, from English.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A national or international congress or conference where delegates or guests debate major political, economic, scientific or cultural questions.^[6][3]
2. The supreme governing body of a political party or public organization.^[6][8]
3. The name of the parliament in some countries, such as the United States.^[6][3]
4. Followed by a name, the name of some political parties.^[6]
5. An international conference of states, usually held to conclude a peace treaty.^[6][8]

Word family

• congresmen
• congresual
• congresist

Related words

• grad
• progres
• Latin congressus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. congres
3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 486
4. ^ 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. congres
5. ^ 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. congres
6. ^ 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. 221
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. congres
8. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. congres
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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
12. ^ a b 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. congres
13. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 233
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 158