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datorită

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word datorită

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1878 Eminescu More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Romanian datori

Pronunciation

  • /da.toˈri.tə/[1]

Forms

datorită (preposition, with the dative)[1]

Etymology

It is from Romanian datori, the older form of datora “to owe”: the feminine of its past participle, “owed”, came to be used as a preposition governing the dative.[2][1] MDA2 calls it a new formation and compares the verb; the Romanian Wiktionary derives it from the verb or from its participle datorit.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is in Eminescu, in 1878, with the senses “thanks to” and “because of”.[2] MDA2 cites Cocea for its first record.[3] The participle form itself is older: the Bucharest Bible of 1688 has datorită in the Fourth Book of Maccabees.[5]

Semantic evolution

The preposition grew out of the reflexive figurative sense of the verb, a se datora “to be due to, to be explained by”, which DELR records beside “to owe”.[2] It expresses a cause, favourable or not, and in NODEX also the means or agent through which something happens.[3][6]

Timeline

  • 1688 – the participle form datorită in the Bucharest Bible.[5]
  • 1878 – datorită as a preposition in Eminescu, the first record.[2]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. (with the dative) thanks to, owing to: Am reușit datorită ajutorului tău.[3][6][1]
  2. (with the dative) because of, due to: Drumul s-a închis datorită ninsorii.[3][6][1]
  3. (with the dative) By means of, through.[6]

Usage notes

MDA2 gives both “thanks to” and “because of” as senses, so the preposition can introduce an unwelcome cause as well as a welcome one.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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. dator
  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, 603
  4. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 4 Macc 17:18
  6. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
Cite this entry

“Datorită.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/datorit%C4%83. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·