discuție

Forms

discuție f (plural discuții)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French discussion, a 19th-century neologism, in DEX, DLR, MDA2, Tiktin and Wiktionary.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} DN and MDN give Latin discussio beside French, an instance of the multiple etymology of Romanian neologisms.^[6][7] The French word comes from the Late Latin noun.^[1][1] MDA2 lists the variants discuțiune and the old discusie, discusiune.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1813, in a manifesto that DLR and MDA2 quote: „Fu despre această parte o discusie” “there was a discussion about this side”.^[3][4] Tiktin's first date is 1829.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The 19th-century texts that DLR quotes use the word for the debate of a question in an assembly, a committee or the press, often in the form discuțiune.^[3] The everyday sense “conversation, exchange of views” and “heated argument” came to the front in the modern language, which DEX lists first.^[2] The adverbial phrases fără discuție “without doubt” and nu (mai) încape discuție “there is no question about it” are fixed expressions.^[2][4] In law, discuțiune was the examination of the principal debtor's goods before a guarantor could be made to pay.^[4]

Timeline

• 1813 – discusie in a manifesto, the first record.^[3][4]
• 1829 – the first record Tiktin dates.^[5]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, as DLR records.^[3]
• 1865 – discuțiunea in a document printed in the Uricariul.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A conversation, an exchange of views: Am avut o discuție lungă despre carte. “We had a long talk about the book.”^[2][4]
2. A heated exchange of opposing views; a dispute, a quarrel.^[2]
3. A close examination or debate of a question, usually in an organized body: proiectul e în discuție “the bill is under discussion”.^[2][4]

Related words

• discuta
• French discussion

Usage notes

Fără discuție means “undoubtedly”, and nu (mai) încape discuție “certainly, it goes without saying”.^[2] The variant discuțiune is dated.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 319
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. discuție
4. ^ 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, 725
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. discuție
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. discuție
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. discuție