curier

Forms

curier m (plural curieri, feminine curieră); n (plural curiere) in the senses “mail” and “newspaper”^[1] Older forms are corier, coroer and curueriu, and in Transylvania curir.^[2][3] Dionisie's chronicle has „prin grabnic corier” “by swift courier”.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French courrier, as DELR, DA, DEX and MDN give it.^[2][4][1][6] The older form corier is borrowed from Italian corriere, and the Transylvanian curir is borrowed from German Kurier.^[2][3] Tiktin names Italian and French, MDA2 French and German.^[2][5][3] The French word was borrowed from the Italian one, a derivative of correre (“to run”), from Latin currō.^[2][7][8] The German word came from French in turn.^[8][9]

DELR thinks that the form coroer, which DA tied to curea, may be a misreading of the word for a courier.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1695, as part of a name, Corierul Stealelor.^[2][5] In the 18th century the chroniclers use it for a messenger sent in haste by a government or a ruler with orders and reports.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The messenger of rulers became the man who brings newspapers, letters and telegrams, the postman, and then the whole mail sent or received at one time: cu întoarcerea curierului “by return of post”.^[4][5] From the 19th century it named periodicals, such as Curierul românesc (1829–1848) and Curier de ambe sexe (1842–1847), and columns of newspapers.^[5][4] Later it took the sense of a vehicle, ship or aircraft carrying mail.^[6] The derivatives are recent: curierist “columnist”, from French courriériste, in 1931, curieră in 1953 and curierat “courier service” in 1988.^[2]

Timeline

• 1695 – in the name Corierul Stealelor, the first record.^[2][5]
• 1825 – curir, after German, in the Buda dictionary.^[3][4]
• 1829–1848 – the newspaper Curierul românesc.^[5]
• 1870 – a rider who carries dispatches, letters and orders by post.^[10]
• 1931 – curierist “columnist” in CADE.^[2]
• 1988 – curierat “courier service”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A postman; a person employed by an institution to deliver letters and messages; a courier or relay rider;^[1][11] curier diplomatic a foreign ministry official who carries the diplomatic bag.^[1][11]
2. (dated) The mail sent or received at one time.^[1][4]
3. (dated) A name of news periodicals or of informative columns in them.^[1][4]

Word family

• curierat

Related words

• French courrier

References

1. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 263
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. curier
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 580
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. curier
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. curier
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. curier
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
9. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
10. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 284
11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. curier