detectiv

Forms

detectiv m (plural detectivi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French détective, as DEX, NODEX and MDA2 give it.^[2][3][4][5] The DLR and MDN name the English word beside the French one, and the DN compares it.^[6][7][8] French borrowed it in 1867 from English detective, a noun use of the adjective meaning “that detects”, from the verb detect.^[9] Scriban takes the English verb back to Latin dētegō (“to uncover”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1868, in Barcianu's dictionary.^[5] The DLR's first quotation is from Caragiale, whose narrator follows a man „mai discret decât un bătrân detectiv” “more discreetly than an old detective”.^[6] The word spread in French at the start of the 20th century with the translations of English detective novels.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The core sense, a secret agent working for the police or for a private person, has stayed the same; the DLRLC of the 1950s limited it to the police of the capitalist countries.^[11][2] DEX 2009 defines the detective more broadly as an agent who gathers information or investigates a person.^[2] A feminine detectivă is rare: Camil Petrescu has it in a figurative sense.^[6][11] The word is also an adjective, used of detective novels and films, and the press has an adjective detectivist from 1974.^[6][4][12]

Timeline

• 1867 – French borrows détective from English.^[9]
• 1868 – the first Romanian record, in Barcianu's dictionary.^[5]
• 1931 – CADE defines the detective as a security agent investigating crimes.^[13]
• 1974 – the adjective detectivist in the press.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A detective: an agent working for the police or for a private person, who gathers information or investigates someone.^[2][4]

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a detective; of novels and films, telling of detectives' work.^[6][4]

Word family

• detectivist

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 303
3. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. detectiv
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 682
5. ^ 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. detectiv
6. ^ 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. detectiv
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. detectiv
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. detectiv
9. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 415
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 87
12. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. detectiv
13. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. detectiv