consiliu

Forms

consiliu n (plural consilii)^[1] Old and regional variants include consilium, conziliu, conzilium and, in Muntenia, consaliu, conțaliu, conțâliu, conțiliu “councillor”.^[2][3] An older plural is consiliuri: „Ia pentru tine consiliurile ce dai altora” “take for yourself the advice you give others”.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsilium (“counsel, deliberation”), a learned loan, with senses taken from French conseil.^{[2][6][7][3][5][1]} The DA puts it the same way, as a Latin word that followed French.^[8] DELR explains two variants separately: conselio comes from Modern Greek κονσέλιον (konsélion), itself from Italian consiglio and the Latin word, and conziliu from German Konsilium, with the German pronunciation of the Latin word.^[2]

The Latin noun is formed on cōnsulō (“to consult, deliberate”) with the suffix -ium.^[9][2] It was inherited by most Romance languages: besides the Italian and French words, Spanish consejo and Portuguese conselho.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is of 1715, in the variant conselio in a chronicle.^[2] Tiktin dates the word to 1780, and MDA2 first records consiliu in a calendar of 1844.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was “advice, counsel”, now dated: Ghica writes „vă dau oarecare consiliuri” “I give you some advice”.^[8][3][7] Beside it the word named an assembly that deliberates or decides, and this became the main sense: consiliu de miniștri “council of ministers”, consiliu de război “council of war”, consiliu comunal “town council”.^[5][8][7] By extension it also names the room or the meeting where such a body sits.^[3][8]

In law, consiliu judiciar was the person a court named to assist a spendthrift in his transactions.^[8][11] After 1989 consiliu local replaced sfat popular as the name of the local council.^[12]

Romanian derived consilier “councillor”, recorded from 1724, which DELR takes from French conseiller adapted to consiliu, and the verb consilia “to advise” from 1841.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1715 – the variant conselio in a chronicle, the first record.^[2]
• 1724 – consilier, in the variant consiliar.^[2]
• 1780 – consiliu in Tiktin's first record.^[5]
• 1841 – the verb consilia in Barițiu.^[2]
• 1844 – consiliu in a calendar.^[3]
• 1848 – Negulici lists the word with the sense “advice”.^[4]
• 1862 – Pontbriant gives both “advice” and “deliberating assembly”.^[13]
• 1990s – consiliu local becomes the name of the local council.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A council or board: an organized body that leads, administers or advises an organization, firm or institution: consiliu de administrație “board of directors”.^[7][3]
2. Consiliu de miniștri: the ministers together as the executive power; the government.^[7] Consiliu de stat: in some states, the supreme permanent organ of state power, or an advisory body of the head of state.^[7]
3. Consiliu de familie: a meeting of family members that decides on the acts of a member who cannot manage his property.^[7]
4. By extension, the place where a council meets.^[3]
5. (dated) Advice, counsel.^[7][3]

Word family

• consilia
• consilier

Related words

• conciliu
• sfat
• Latin cōnsilium

Usage notes

The plural is consilii;^[3][5] consiliuri is old.^[3][5] Romanian also has conciliu “church council”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. consiliu
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 489
4. ^ 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. consiliu
5. ^ 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. consiliu
6. ^ 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. consiliu
7. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 223
8. ^ 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. consiliu
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2164
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. consiliu
12. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. consiliu
13. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 149