dinozaur

Forms

dinozaur m (plural dinozauri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French dinosaure and partly borrowed from Italian dinosauro, the sources DEX, DLR and MDN give.^[2][3][4][1] DELR gives only the French word, and DN takes it from dinosaurien.^[5][6] The French word is from English dinosaur, coined by the English palaeontologist Richard Owen in 1841 from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible”) and σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard”).^[5][7][8] DELR explains the early variant ⟨dinosaurii⟩ by the New Latin plural Dinosauria, from Owen's same study.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1898, the form dinosaurii in the Enciclopedia română.^[5] MDA2's first record is the CADE dictionary.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word names the fossil reptiles of the Mesozoic.^[5][2] In the press it has also come to mean, disparagingly, a person, group or regime that has outlived its time.^[3][10] The older spelling dinosaur was in use beside dinozaur.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 1898 – dinosaurii and dinosaurian in the Enciclopedia română, the first records.^[5]
• 1931 – dinozaur in the CADE dictionary.^[9][3]
• 2005 – the figurative sense “has-been” in the press.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dinosaur: a huge fossil reptile of the Mesozoic era.^[2][11]
2. (figurative, pejorative) A person, group or regime that is out of date.^[3][10]

Word family

• dinozaurian

Related words

• French dinosaure

Usage notes

The a and u are pronounced in separate syllables, -za-ur.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c 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. 316
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dinozaur
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. dinozaur
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. dinozaur
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. dinozaur
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 718
10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. dinozaur
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. dinozaur