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deplin

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word deplin

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1581–1582 Palia de la Orăștie More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic *dē,*plēnos
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin dē
Aromanian deadun
Aromanian di
French de
Italian da
Italian di
Italian dove
Romanian de
Romanian deplin
Spanish de
Derivations
From the same root
Latin deante ← dē
Latin dēforīs ← dē
Latin dehinc ← dē
Latin deinde ← dē
Latin deinter ← dē
Latin deintrō ← dē
Latin dēintus ← dē
Latin dēlīrō ← dē
Latin dēmum ← dē
Latin dēnique ← dē
Latin dēnuō ← dē
Latin dēretrō ← dē
Latin dēsubtus ← dē
Latin dēsuper ← dē
Latin dēsūrsum ← dē
Latin dēterior ← dē
Latin dēviō ← dē
Latin dorsum ← dē
Latin duodēvīgintī ← dē
Latin ūndēvīgintī ← dē
French cul-de-sac ← de
French davantage ← de
French debout ← de
French devant ← de
French dinde ← de
Italian dappertutto ← da
Italian davvero ← da
Italian dipoi ← di
Romanian dacă ← de
Romanian dânsul ← de
See all derived words →

Forms

deplin m or n (feminine singular deplină, masculine plural deplini, feminine/neuter plural depline); also an adverb[1] Old and regional texts also have dăplin: „Zisul Lăpușnean, acea lună dăplin umblă tot pământu” “the said Lăpușneanu went about the whole land that whole month”, in Dumitrache's chronicle.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian de + plin (“full”).[3][1][2][4][5] Șăineanu glosses it literally as “full altogether”.[6] Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of plin, which is inherited from plēnus (“full”).[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581–1582, in Genesis 35:28: „Şi fură dzilele lu Iacov deplin 180 de ani” “and the days of Jacob were fully 180 years”.[4][2] The DLR also quotes it from a Coresi print, as an adverb “wholly”.[2] MDA2 dates it by Varlaam's Cazania of 1643.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the adjective was often left undeclined, like its synonym desăvârșit: the New Testament of 1648 has „ca să fie deplin bucuria voastră” “that your joy may be full”.[4] The chroniclers use it for a full suit of clothes, a perfect soldier, a word that is fulfilled.[4] MDA2 records old phrases such as deplin împuternicit “plenipotentiary” and a sense “completed” of a span of time;[3][9] Damé gives depline puteri “full powers”.[3][9] The adverbial phrase pe deplin “fully” is in Eminescu.[4] A regional sense “enough” is recorded in Muntenia.[10]

Timeline

  • 1581–1582 – deplin “fully” in the Palia de la Orăștie.[4]
  • 1643 – in Varlaam's Cazania.[3]
  • 1648 – the undeclined adjective in the New Testament.[4]
  • 1660 – deplini glosses Slavonic words for “full, perfect” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.[11]
  • 1688 – 26 occurrences in the Bucharest Bible.[12]
  • 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda gives Latin plenus, perfectus, integer and plene for the adjective and adverb.[13]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. whole, complete; perfect, entire: liniște deplină “complete silence”.[1][3]

Adverb

  1. fully, entirely, wholly; often pe deplin: sunt pe deplin convins “I am fully convinced”.[1][14]
  2. (popular) Properly, as it ought to be done.[1][3]

Word family

Usage notes

Pe deplin is the usual form of the adverb with adjectives and participles, beside plain deplin.[15][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 291
  2. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. deplin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 647
  4. ^ 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. deplin
  5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 199
  7. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. plin
  8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 421
  9. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. deplin
  10. ^ Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. s.v. deplin
  11. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. deplini
  12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Ex 12:5
  13. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 174
  14. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 405
  15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 54
Cite this entry

“Deplin.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/deplin. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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