demonstra

Forms

demonstra (third-person singular present demonstrează, past participle demonstrat) 1st conjugation^[1] demunstra, in Filimon: „îi demunstră că acel duel își cerea victima sa” “he showed him that the duel claimed its victim”.^[2] demustra, in a periodical of 1870: „Să probe, să demustre virtutea de roman” “to prove, to demonstrate Roman virtue”.^[2] MDA2 also records a rare present demonstru beside the usual demonstrez.^[3]

Etymology

It is a learned loan, borrowed from Latin dēmōnstrō (“to point out, show, prove”), with French démontrer as a second model: DELR, DEX and MDA2 name both sources.^[4][5][3] Tiktin and the DLR put Latin first, and Wiktionary French.^[6][2][1] The Latin verb is formed from dē- and mōnstrō (“to show”), which comes from mōnstrum (“portent”), from the root of moneō (“to warn, advise”).^[4] The French verb continues Old French demonstrer, from the same Latin verb.^[1][7]

The sense “to take part in a public demonstration” follows Russian демонстрировать (demonstrirovatʹ).^[4][8] The same Latin verb gave the inherited mustra (“to scold”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1781, in Micu.^[6] DELR dates it to about 1832, in I. Golescu's Condica, with the sense “to prove with convincing arguments”.^[4] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 lists demonstrare “to prove, to show plainly”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is logical proof: to show by arguments, evidence or examples that a statement is true, and in mathematics to prove a theorem.^[5][2] Damé glosses it with French démontrer in 1893.^[11] CADE adds a teaching sense, to give a lesson by showing the objects spoken of.^[12] The intransitive sense, of crowds taking part in a demonstration, came under Russian influence.^[4][5]

Romanian borrowed a family of related words at the same time: demonstrativ in 1787, demonstrație in 1800 and demonstrabil about 1832.^[4] Demonstrant “demonstrator” came in 1902 from German Demonstrant and Russian.^[4]

Timeline

• 1781 – demonstra in Micu, the first record.^[6]
• 1787 – dimostrativ “demonstrative” in Văcărescu's grammar.^[4]
• 1800 – demonstrație “proof, demonstration” in Micu.^[4]
• c. 1832 – demonstra and demonstrabil in I. Golescu.^[4]
• 1840 – demonstrator.^[4]
• 1848 – demonstrare in Negulici's dictionary.^[10]
• 1870 – the variant demustra.^[2]
• 1902 – demonstrant “demonstrator”.^[4]
• 2000 – demo, from English.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To prove: to show convincingly, by arguments, logical reasoning or examples, that a statement or fact is true or false: Experimentul a demonstrat că ipoteza era greșită. “The experiment proved the hypothesis wrong.”^[5][3]
2. (transitive) To prove a theorem or formula by calculation and reasoning.^[5][3]
3. (transitive) To illustrate by examples; to show one's feelings or attachment to an idea by one's conduct.^[3]
4. (intransitive, of crowds) To demonstrate, take part in a public demonstration.^[5][3]

Word family

• demonstrabil
• demonstrabilitate
• demonstrant
• demonstrativ
• demonstrație
• demonstrator

Related words

• mustra
• monstru
• Latin dēmōnstrō
• French démontrer

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. demonstra
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, 640
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. demonstra
5. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 288
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. demonstra
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. demonstra
9. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
10. ^ 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. demonstrare
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. demonstra
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. demonstra