declara

Forms

declara (third-person singular present declară, past participle declarat, third-person subjunctive declare) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French déclarer and a learned borrowed from Latin dēclārō (“to make clear, declare”), a neologism of the late 18th century.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary gives French alone,^[1] Tiktin as well.^[5] The verb is formed from Latin dē- + clārus (“clear, bright, illustrious”).^[2]

Of the old variants, DELR and the DLR take dichera from Italian dichiarare, while dechiara and dechera are the French and Latin verb adapted to Romanian sounds.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1793.^[5] DELR and MDA2 date it to a calendar printed in Vienna in 1794, where someone „îi declară părintelui” “declares to his father” what he will do; the sense is “to state openly and firmly”.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Before the form settled, the verb was also written declararisi, declaruí, declărălui, declera and dechiara.^[2][5] MDA2 records a declararisi with every sense of the verb.^[4] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 gives “to show one's opinions and feelings; to make known by public authority”,^[7] and Pontbriant's of 1862 adds uses since lost, such as “to retract” in a declarat că nu mai este de părerea întâi.^[8] The reflexive “to break out”, of fever or fire, and “to take sides”, as in mă declar pentru voi, are in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[9] The set phrases a declara război “to declare war” and a declara grevă “to call a strike” are part of the modern verb.^[3]

The noun declarație is recorded earlier than the verb, in 1788, borrowed from déclaration and Latin dēclārātiō.^[2]

Timeline

• 1788 – the noun declarație in Budai-Deleanu.^[2]
• 1793 – Tiktin's first record of the verb.^[5]
• 1794 – declară “states openly” in a calendar printed in Vienna.^[2][4]
• 1840 – declarativ and declarator, from French.^[2]
• 1848 – declarare in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[7]
• 1870 – declarant in Eminescu.^[2]
• 1973 – autodeclara “to declare oneself (to be something)”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To declare, to state openly, orally or in writing; to make known.^[3][4]
2. (transitive) To make an official statement before an authority: a declarat bunurile la vamă.^[3]
3. (transitive) To reveal, to confess a feeling to someone: și-a declarat dragostea.^[3]
4. (transitive) To pronounce someone to be something; especially to pass a judicial sentence on someone;^[3][4] (reflexive) to own oneself to be: s-a declarat mulțumit.^[3][4]
5. In set phrases: a declara război “to declare war”, also figuratively “to take a hostile stand”;^[3][4] a declara grevă “to go on strike”;^[3][4] (law) a declara apel “to lodge an appeal”.^[3][4]
6. (reflexive) Of processes and phenomena: to arise, to break out: s-a declarat un incendiu.^[3][10]
7. (reflexive) To take a stand for or against someone or something.^[3]

Word family

• autodeclara

Related words

• declarație
• declarant
• declarativ
• Latin dēclārō

References

1. ^ a b 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. declara
3. ^ 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. 278
4. ^ 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, 618
5. ^ 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. declara
6. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. declara
7. ^ 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. declarare
8. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 187
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 194
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. declara