cretin

Forms

cretin m (plural cretini)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French crétin.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin also names Italian cretino.^[5] French took the word from the Alpine dialects of Romandy, where it is recorded in 1660, as Franco-Provençal cretin, from Latin chrīstiānus (“Christian”).^[2][6] The meaning grew from “person, poor fellow”, a pitying name for the people of the high Alps who suffered from goitre and intellectual disability through lack of iodine.^[2][6]

It is therefore a doublet of the inherited creștin (“Christian”).^[7][1][8] Scriban's own view was that the French had applied the name to old Christians who did nothing but fast and pray.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is from 1837, in Episcupescu, as a medical term for a person suffering from cretinism;^[2] cretinism is first recorded in the same text.^[2] Tiktin gives the same year.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The medical sense was soon extended to a stupid person.^[2][4] CADE in 1931 still describes the cretin as a stunted, goitrous person of the Alps and the Pyrenees, and gives “idiot” as the figurative sense.^[10] MDA2's first record of the word, from 1931, is in Cezar Petrescu's novel Calea Victoriei.^[3] The verb cretiniza is recorded in 1880, in Eminescu.^[2]

Timeline

• 1837 – cretin and cretinism in Episcupescu, the first records.^[2][5]
• 1880 – cretinizare in Eminescu.^[2]
• 1931 – cretin “stupid person” in Cezar Petrescu.^[3][7]
• 1969 – semicretinism.^[2]
• 1978 – semicretin.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Suffering from cretinism; imbecilic.^[4][3]
2. (by extension) stupid, absurd.^[4][3]

Noun

1. A person suffering from cretinism.^[4][3]
2. (by extension, insulting) A stupid person, an idiot, a cretin: Nu fi cretin! “Don't be an idiot!”^[4][3][1]

Word family

• cretinism
• cretiniza
• semicretinism

Related words

• creștin
• French chrétien

Usage notes

Damé's dictionary of 1893 has a homonymous adjective cretin “Christian”, as in popoarele cretine “the Christian peoples”.^[11]

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 k 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. cretin
3. ^ 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, 548
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. 249
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. cretin
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b 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. cretin
8. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 87
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 364
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cretin
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. cretin