divin

Forms

divin m or n (feminine singular divină, masculine plural divini, feminine/neuter plural divine)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dīvīnus (“divine”), with French divin and Italian divino as further sources: DELR, MDA2 and the DLR name all three.^[2][3][4] DEX and the neologism dictionaries name French and Latin, Tiktin French alone, and Scriban Latin alone.^[5][6][7][8]

The Latin adjective is formed on dīvus (“divine, of a god”) with the suffix -īnus;^[9][2] DELR traces it to the stem of deus (“god”).^[9][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date it to 1833, in Săulescu's grammar.^[2][7] MDA2 and the DLR quote Săulescu's Hronologhia of 1837: many doubtful cases „se supunea unei aseminea divine giudecăți” “were submitted to such a divine judgment”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first meant “belonging to or coming from God or the gods”, and soon also “made for the worship of God”, as in serviciu divin “divine service”.^[4][5] It also took the figurative sense “excellent, wonderful”: Eminescu writes of “the divine Shakespeare”, „divinul… Shakespeare”.^[10][5]

The word came with a family of learned words: divinitate (1829), diviniza (1848, from French diviniser), div (1865) and divă (1845, from Italian diva).^[2]

Timeline

• 1829 – the noun divinitate.^[2]
• 1833 – divin in Săulescu's grammar, the first record.^[2][7]
• 1837 – divine giudecăți “divine judgments” in Săulescu's Hronologhia.^[3][4]
• 1845 – divă in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[2]
• 1848 – Negulici lists divin, with the senses “of God” and “very beautiful, very good”;^[11][2] diviniza the same year.^[11][2]
• 1870 – the adverb divinamente in Heliade-Rădulescu.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Coming from God or the gods, like God or the gods; divine, heavenly.^[5][3]
2. Done in the service or to the glory of God; religious: serviciu divin “divine service”.^[5][3]
3. (figurative) Gifted with exceptional qualities; wonderful: o voce divină “a wonderful voice”.^[5][3]

Word family

• divinitate
• diviniza

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. divin
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, 735
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. divin
5. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 323
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
7. ^ 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. divin
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună
9. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 136
11. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. divin