desfășurare

Forms

desfășurare f (plural desfășurări)^[1]

Etymology

It is the long infinitive of desfășura “to unfold”, formed from Romanian desfășura + -re, used as a noun.^[2][3][4][1]

The verb is either a Romanian formation, des- with înfășura “to wrap”, or a continuation of Vulgar Latin *disfasciolō, which Tiktin reconstructs on the model of spânzura.^[3][5][1] Both go back to fascia (“band, strip”), the source of fașă.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in G. A. Polizu's Romanian–German dictionary of 1857.^[3] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 still gives it as the infinitive, “to unwind, unroll” (French dérouler).^[7]

Semantic evolution

Like the verb, the noun first meant the unrolling of something rolled or folded up, and the spreading of a material over a surface.^[3] In geometry it is the laying of a surface flat on a plane, and in spinning the drawing of a thread off a bobbin.^[3][2] A military sense, the passing of a unit into battle order, follows the verb's.^[3]

The most frequent sense today is the course of events and actions: Eminescu writes „trebuie să vă dau o desfășurare a întâmplărilor mele” “I must give you an account of how my adventures unfolded”.^[4] The DLR also records the gradual showing of a landscape, in Caragiale, and a display of force, in Sadoveanu.^[4] In literature and on the stage desfășurarea acțiunii is the succession of the moments of the plot.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1825 – the verb desfășura in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[3]
• 1857 – the noun in Polizu's dictionary, the first record.^[3]
• 1870 – “to unwind, unroll” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of unfolding or unrolling something, or of spreading it out, and its result.^[2][3]
2. (geometry) The laying of a surface flat on a plane without tearing or folding: desfășurarea unui cilindru.^[2][3]
3. The course, progress of events or actions: Am urmărit desfășurarea alegerilor.^[3][4]
4. (military) The deployment of a unit into battle order.^[3]
5. desfășurarea acțiunii: the development of the plot of a literary or stage work, the succession of its moments.^[2]

Related words

• desfășura
• înfășura
• fașă

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 298
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 662
4. ^ 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. desfășurare
5. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. desfășura
6. ^ 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. fașă
7. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 318