Etymology and origin of the Romanian word cult
cult1 worship, cult
Etymology tree of cult1
From the same root · cult1
Pronunciation
- /kult/[1]
Forms
cult n (plural culte)[1]
Etymology
The word for worship is borrowed from French culte, according to DELR, MDA2 and DEX, which all name a learned Latin source as well: borrowed from Latin cultus (“care, cultivation; worship of the gods”).[2][3][4] Tiktin, the DA and Scriban give the Latin noun alone.[5][6][7] The Latin noun comes from colō (“to cultivate, to honour”).[6][2] The French noun itself is a learned loan of the Latin word, recorded from the 16th century.[8]
Ciorănescu lists the noun among the derivatives of the adjective (homograph 2).[9]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELR and Tiktin both date the noun to 1829;[2][5] DELR's record is in the newspaper Curierul românesc.[2][5] In 1848 Negulici defined it as honour and worship given to God and as great veneration.[10]
Semantic evolution
From the worship of God and its rites the word came to mean a religion or confession; in the plural, culte were the religions of a state, as in the old Ministerul Cultelor “ministry of religious affairs”.[6][11] Barcianu glossed ministru de culte as German Kultusminister in 1886.[12] The figurative sense “deep respect, veneration” for a person, an idea or a memory appears in Costinescu and in Negruzzi.[6][13] The DLRLC of the 1950s records the set phrase cultul personalității “the personality cult”.[11][4]
Timeline
- 1829 – first record, in Curierul românesc.[2][5]
- 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.[10]
- 1857 – the religious sense in Aristia's translation of Plutarch.[3]
- 1870 – the figurative sense “great regard” in Costinescu's dictionary.[13]
- 1941 – the adjective cultic “of worship”.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- worship paid to a deity through religious acts; prayer and ritual; the rites of a religion as a whole.[4][3]
- Exaggerated admiration, respect or veneration for a person or a thing: cultul personalității “the personality cult”.[4][11]
- A religion or confession; in the plural, the religions recognised in a state.[4][3]
Word family
- cultic
cult2 educated, learned
Etymology tree of cult2
From the same root · cult2
Pronunciation
- /kult/[1]
Forms
cult m (feminine singular cultă, masculine plural culți, feminine and neuter plural culte)[4]
Etymology
The word for “educated” is borrowed from Latin cultus (“tilled, cultivated; refined”), the past participle of colō (“to cultivate, to look after”), a learned loan of the late 18th century.[14][9][3][4] The Latin participle was used of tilled land and cultivated plants before it meant refined in mind.[15]
Ciorănescu derives the related cultiva from cultiver and cultură from culture; the 18th-century forms cultivirui and cultiverisi that preceded the verb came from German kultivieren.[9]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tiktin dates the adjective to 1794;[16][14] DELR's first record is Iorgovici's Observații of 1799, where it means “cultivated, educated”.[16][14] MDA2 gives the Laurian–Massim dictionary of 1871, with națiune cultă “a cultured nation”.[3][6]
Semantic evolution
Used first of people and peoples, om cult, popor cult, the adjective was soon applied to what an educated person produces: the learned style, and limba cultă, the language of educated speakers, in which, Eminescu wrote, the sky is called atmosferă.[6][16][4] It also labels art music and written literature by named authors, in contrast with folk music and folk poetry.[4][3] Its negative is incult.[9][17]
Timeline
- 1794 – first record according to Tiktin.[16]
- 1799 – cult “educated” in Iorgovici's Observații.[14]
- 1871 – in the Laurian–Massim dictionary.[3]
- 1939 – the noun cultism “learned word; affected style”.[14]
Meanings
Adjective
- Educated, learned, with a high level of culture and knowledge.[4][3]
- (of what people produce) Showing an educated mind; scholarly, bookish.[4][18]
- (of music, poetry, literature; opposed to popular) Created by an educated author, not folk.[4][3]
Word family
- incult
- cultism
Related words
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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. cult²
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 569
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 258
- ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cult 2
- ^ a b c d e f 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. cult
- ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 375
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d 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. cult
- ^ 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. cult
- ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 599
- ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 150
- ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 278
- ^ a b c d e 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. cult¹
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cult 1
- ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cult
- ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. cult
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Cult.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/cult. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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