continent

Forms

continent n (plural continente)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French continent and directly borrowed from Latin continens.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin names only French, Scriban only Latin.^[5][6] The Latin word is the present participle of contineō (“to hold together”), from con- and teneō (“to hold”), used as a noun with terra (“land”) understood: “land that holds together, continuous land”.^[2][7] French took the noun from Latin in 1532.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1829, with the sense “continent, mainland”.^[2][5] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848 explains it as land holding several countries not separated by sea.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 names the Old Continent, Europe, Asia and Africa, and the New, America.^[9] Besides the large land masses, the word means the mainland as opposed to nearby islands, and Continental Europe as opposed to Britain;^[10][11][3] MDA2's first record, from Ion Ghica's letters of 1887, is in this sense, “on the continent” outside the British isle.^[10][11][3] The adjective continental is recorded from 1829 too, and intercontinental from 1874.^[2]

Timeline

• 1829 – first record of the noun and of continental.^[2][5]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]
• 1874 – intercontinental.^[2]
• 1879 – transcontinental.^[2]
• 1887 – “mainland of Europe” in Ion Ghica's letters.^[3]
• 1926 – epicontinental.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A continent: a large mass of land bounded wholly or partly by seas and oceans, with the islands near it.^[4][3][1]
2. The mainland as opposed to islands;^[10][11] Continental Europe as opposed to the British Isles.^[10][11]

Word family

• continental
• epicontinental
• intercontinental
• intracontinental
• transcontinental

Usage notes

The plural is continente; an older plural continenturi is recorded by Polizu.^[11][3] A rare adjective continent “chaste, abstinent”, from continent, is a separate borrowing, recorded from 1871.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. continent
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 495
4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 227
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. continent
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 339
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ 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. continent
9. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 243
10. ^ a b c d Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. continent
11. ^ 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. continent