definitiv

Forms

definitiv m or n (feminine singular definitivă, masculine plural definitivi, feminine/neuter plural definitive)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French définitif, also borrowed from Latin dēfīnītīvus: the double source that DELR, MDA2, DEX, the DLR and Marcu give.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Tiktin names only French, Scriban only Latin, and Marcu & Maneca compare Italian definitivo as well.^[7][8][9] Within Romanian it can be analysed as defini with the suffix ⟨-tiv⟩.^[1] An old variant definițiu adapted the word to Romanian.^[2][3]

The Latin adjective is formed on dēfīniō (“to define, delimit”) with the suffix -īvus;^[10][11] Cicero used it as a term of rhetoric, and later legal Latin applied it to a final judgement.^[10][11] The French word is a learned borrowing from the Latin one.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1829: the DLR quotes a commission that proposed to a congress „o definitivă sau hotărâtoare socotință” “a definitive or decisive reckoning” on all the points in question.^[5][2][3] The sense was already “settled once and for all”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Negulici's vocabulary of 1848 explains the word as “which decides, which settles” and lists the phrase în definitiv “in the end”.^[12] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 calls it a grammatical term and glosses it with the native words hotărâtor and isprăvitor.^[13] In law a hotărâre definitivă is a judgement against which no ordinary appeal is left.^[4][3]

In the school system a profesor definitiv or învățător definitiv is a teacher who has passed the examination for a permanent post; from this use came the verb definitiva (1899) and the noun definitivat (1905), the name of that examination.^[4][2] The adverb definitivamente (1857), from French and perhaps Italian, did not last.^[2] In Muntenian speech the adverb also means “completely, through and through”.^[14]

Timeline

• 1829 – definitivă “definitive, final”, the first record.^[2][5]
• 1848 – in Negulici's vocabulary of neologisms, with în definitiv.^[12]
• 1857 – definitivamente “finally”.^[2]
• 1870 – Costinescu glosses it as a grammatical term.^[13]
• 1899 – definitivare, the first form of the verb definitiva.^[2]
• 1905 – definitivat, the examination for a permanent teaching post.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. definitive, final: settled once and for all, no longer open to change; irrevocable; often used as an adverb, “for good”.^[4][3][1]
2. (law) hotărâre definitivă: a judgement against which no ordinary appeal remains.^[4]
3. profesor (învățător) definitiv: a teacher who has passed the definitivat and holds a permanent post.^[4][3]
4. în definitiv: in the end, after all.^[4][12]

Word family

• definitiva
• definitivat

Related words

• defini
• definiție
• Latin dēfīnītīvus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. defini
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, 627
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 282
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. definitiv
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. definitiv
7. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. definitiv
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 398
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. definitiv
10. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c 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. definitiv
13. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 302
14. ^ Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”