diferit

Forms

diferit m or n (feminine singular diferită, masculine plural diferiți, feminine/neuter plural diferite)^[1] An old variant diferint or diferinte followed Italian differente: „le-au dat însă o formă diferinte” “but they gave them a different form” (Heliade-Rădulescu).^[2][3]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Romanian diferi “to differ”.^{[4][3][5][6][1]} Marcu and Maneca compare French différent, and MDN takes it from the French adjective.^[7][8]

The verb is a learned loan from Latin differō (“to carry apart; to differ; to put off”) and French différer; it passed to the fourth conjugation after suferi.^[5] The Latin verb is formed from dis- and ferō (“to carry”).^[5] The old adjective diferent, with its variant ⟨diferinte⟩, came from French, Latin and Italian differente.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record before 1774, in a document of Codrescu's Uricariul;^[9][10] DELR's first record is in a work of Maior (1813), Tiktin's of 1821.^[3][5][6] The sense is “unlike, distinct from”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first meant “differing, unlike” after its noun; placed before a plural noun it came to mean “various, all kinds of”, as in diferite părți “various parts”.^[4][2] It is also used as an adverb, “differently”.^[9][10] In the 19th century it competed with diferent and diferinte, which Heliade-Rădulescu used, and with diferitor;^[11] diferit won.^[5][2]

Timeline

• before 1774 – a document in the Uricariul, the first record.^[3]
• 1813 – in a work of Maior.^[5]
• 1821 – a record cited by Tiktin.^[6]
• 1840–1841 – diferent and diferinte in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[5]
• 1891 – diferitoriu in Barițiu's history of Transylvania.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (after the noun) different, unlike, distinct (from someone or something): Au păreri diferite. “They have different opinions.”^[4][3]
2. (in the plural, before the noun) various, all kinds of: A vizitat diferite orașe. “He visited various towns.”^[4][3]

Related words

• diferi
• diferență
• diferend

Usage notes

Before a plural noun it means “various” (diferite cărți “various books”), after it “different” (cărți diferite “different books”).^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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. diferit
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, 711
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 313
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. diferi
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. diferit
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. diferit
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. diferit
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 113
10. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 425
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1392