desen

Forms

desen n (plural desene)^[1] The variant desemn was common in the 19th century: Eminescu wrote „Deasupra era un desemn” “on top there was a drawing”.^[2][3] Besides desene the plural desenuri occurs: Caragiale has „Erau și o mulțime de cărți, desenuri ...” “there were also a lot of books, drawings …”.^[2][4] Other old forms are desein, deseniu and dizeniu.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French dessin, as all the dictionaries agree.^{[6][5][4][7][3][1]} The French noun was made from the verb dessiner, earlier desseigner, under the influence of Italian disegno.^[5][1] That verb is from Italian disegnare, from Latin dēsignō (“to mark out, trace”), which is made of dē- and signō (“to mark”), from signum (“sign”).^[5][8][9]

The variant desemn arose by a false analogy with semn “sign”.^[6][2][5] The old form ⟨dizeniu⟩ “plan” is from the Italian noun, according to DELR after Tiktin.^[5] Gabinschi groups the word and its variant with design as doublets from the same Latin verb.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, of 1794 in Văcărescu's history, has the form dizeniu in the sense “plan of action”.^[5] The form desen appears in 1800 in a work of Piuariu-Molnar.^[5] The sense “drawing” is quoted from 1829: „Doi zugravi ... au adus mai multe desenuri” “two painters … brought several drawings”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a picture drawn with lines, points or patches, the art or technique of drawing, and the ornamental figures on a cloth or on wallpaper.^[4][5] The old sense “plan of action” of dizeniu was lost, though desen kept the sense “plan of a building”.^[5][4] Technical phrases followed: desen tehnic “technical drawing” and desen liber “freehand drawing”.^[7][10] With film came desene animate “animated cartoons”.^[7][11]

The verb desena (1835, then desina) is from dessiner, with its form later fitted to the noun;^[5] desenator “draughtsman” (c. 1832) is from dessinateur.^[5]

Timeline

• 1794 – dizeniu “plan of action” in Văcărescu's history, the first record.^[5]
• 1800 – desen in Piuariu-Molnar.^[5]
• 1829 – desenuri “drawings” in a periodical.^[2][3]
• c. 1832 – desinător “draughtsman” in I. Golescu.^[5]
• 1835 – the verb, as desina, in Bolliac.^[5]
• 1910 – desenatoare, the feminine of desenator.^[5]
• 1936 – redesena “to draw again”.^[5]
• 1960 – desenatură, the designing of new patterns for weaving.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drawing: a picture of an object, a figure or a landscape made on a surface with lines, points, patches or symbols.^[4][7]
2. The art or technique of drawing: Are lecție de desen joi.^[4][7]
3. The plan of a building.^[4][7]
4. The ornamental pattern of a cloth or a piece of embroidery.^[4][7]

Word family

• desena
• desenator

Related words

• semn
• design
• French dessin

Usage notes

Desen tehnic (or liniar) is a technical drawing, made to a scale for manufacture;^[4][7] desene animate are cartoons.^[4][7] The plural is desene, less often desenuri; the variant desemn is now old.^[4][3] A rare desemn “aim, purpose” (1934) is taken from dessein.^[5]

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. desén
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. desén
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 298
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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. desená
6. ^ a b 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. desen
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 660
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. dēsignō
9. ^ a b Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 93
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. desen
11. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. desen