diplomă

Forms

diplomă f (plural diplome)^[1] Older texts have a neuter form deplomat, diplomat built on the stem of the Greek and Latin plural: Cantemir writes „Craiul unguresc pre domnii de Ardeal în deplomatele sale voevod îl tituleaşte” “the Hungarian king styles the lords of Transylvania voivode in his diplomas”.^[2][3][4] Șincai uses the same form: „Diplomatul sau hrisovul acesta” “this diploma or charter”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin diplōma, a learned borrowing of the Latin word, with Modern Greek δίπλωμα (díploma) and French diplôme as further models;^[4] DELR gives all three.^[4] MDA2 names the same three sources, DEX and DILF name French and Latin, Tiktin only Latin, and Wiktionary only French.^{[5][6][7][3][1]} The DLR names Greek, Latin and German Diplom.^[2] DELR derives the old variant ⟨diplom⟩ from German and French, after the masculine gender of the French word, and the variant ⟨diplomat⟩ from the stem of the plural and oblique cases of the Greek and Latin noun.^[4] Scriban and DELR also note an older stress, ⟨diplómă⟩.^[8][4]

The Latin word is itself from Ancient Greek δίπλωμα (díplōma), literally “something doubled”, from διπλόω (diplóō, “to double”), from διπλόος (diplóos, “double”).^[4][1] In Greek it named a folded paper or tablet, and so a letter of recommendation, a passport or an order to use the public post.^[9][10] In Latin it was a folded tablet issued by a magistrate to give its bearer free passage, later a certificate of privileges.^[11] French took its word from Latin; its sense “official document conferring a degree” dates from 1810.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is a document of 1699, where the word names an imperial and royal charter: „Diploma înnălții împărăteşti şi crăieşti” “the diploma of the imperial and royal highness”.^[4][2] Tiktin's first record is Cantemir, in 1722.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was historical: a charter granting a right, a title of nobility or privileges, the sense of the 18th-century quotations from Cantemir, Șincai and Petru Maior.^[2][5] By extension it came to mean any official deed that certifies a fact, a right or an obligation.^[2][5] In the 19th century it took the sense of the certificate given by a school or university, diplomă de doctor, diplomă de bacalaureat.^[8][13] It also names the certificate given to a prize-winner or exhibitor, and a lucrare de diplomă is the thesis that ends a course of study.^[6][5] In the old sense, Șăineanu cites the forged diploma bărlădeană dated 1134.^[13] In criminals' slang the word means a sentence of conviction.^[14]

Romanian took most of the related words from French or Latin: diplomatariu “collection of charters” in 1812 (Șincai), diplomație in 1815 and diplomat in 1830.^[4]

Timeline

• 1699 – a document names an imperial charter diploma, the first record.^[4][2]
• 1722 – the plural deplomatele in Cantemir's chronicle.^[3][2]
• 1812 – diplomatariu “collection of charters” in Șincai.^[4]
• 1815 – diplomație, first as diplomatie.^[4]
• 1830 – diplomat “envoy of a state”.^[4]
• 1839 – the participle diplomat “holding a diploma” in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[4]
• 1848 – diplomatist “specialist in old charters” in Negulici's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An official certificate of a person's professional training or of a title or degree: diplomă de licență.^[6][5]
2. A certificate given to a prize-winner or to a participant in an exhibition or competition, recognizing the quality of their work: diplomă de onoare.^[6][5]
3. (historical) In the Middle Ages, a charter granting a title of nobility, rights or privileges.^[6][2]
4. (rare) The examination taken to obtain a diploma.^[5]
5. (slang) A sentence of conviction.^[14]

Word family

• diplomat
• diplomatariu
• diplomatic
• diplomatică
• diplomaticește
• diplomație

Related words

• Latin diplōma
• Ancient Greek δίπλωμα (díplōma)

Usage notes

Lucrare de diplomă is the thesis on which students receive their diploma at the end of their studies.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. diplomă
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. diplomă
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. diplomă
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 720
6. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 317
7. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 429
9. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 377
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
13. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 211
14. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. diplomă