distractiv

Forms

distractiv m or n (feminine singular distractivă, masculine plural distractivi, feminine/neuter plural distractive)^[1]

Etymology

DEX 2009, DN and MDN explain it as formed in Romanian, from Romanian distracție + -iv, made on the model of atracție beside atractiv.^[2][3][4][1] DELR instead takes it from French distractif,^[5] and MDA2 derives it from the noun while comparing Italian distrattivo.^[6] Scriban linked it with Latin distractus, the participle of distrahō (“to pull apart, divert”).^[7]

distracție is from French distraction, recorded in Romanian from 1814.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1883, in the journal Transilvania, with the sense “amusing, pleasant”.^[5] MDA2 gives a later first record, the Budapest review Luceafărul of 1901.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Early 20th-century dictionaries tie it to distrage “to distract”: Șăineanu and Scriban define it as “apt to distract”, and Scriban's example is a book that takes the mind off things.^[8][7] CADE already gives the modern sense, “that entertains, that makes one have a good time”, with the example spectacol distractiv.^[9] Today the word means “amusing, enjoyable”, close to amuzant.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1814 – the noun distracție, in Țichindeal.^[5]
• 1883 – distractiv in Transilvania, the first record.^[5]
• 1901 – distractiv in the review Luceafărul.^[6]
• 1931 – CADE gives the modern sense “entertaining”.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. entertaining, amusing, fun: that gives pleasure and passes the time agreeably: un joc distractiv pentru copii.^[2][6][1]

Related words

• distra
• distracție
• distrage

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 322
3. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. distractiv
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. distractiv
5. ^ a b c d e 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. distra
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 731
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 434
8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 214
9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. distractiv