divizie

Forms

divizie f (plural divizii)^[1] Old texts also write divisie and devizie;^[2][1] DLR treats the word as a variant of diviziune.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian дивизия (divizija), with French division as a further model.^[5][2][1] Others give several sources: MDA2 names Latin dīvīsiō (“division”) and Russian, DLR Latin, French and Russian, while Tiktin names French, directly or through another language.^[4][3][6] Scriban takes the Russian word from French.^[7] Gabinschi calls it a European loan of Latin origin, taken from French, German and Russian.^[8] The Russian word, like Bulgarian дивизия (divizija), goes back to the Latin noun.^[9][9] That is formed on dīvidō (“to divide”) with the suffix -tiō.^[1][10] It is a doublet of diviziune.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and DLR date the first record to 1774.^[6][3] In Gheorghe Șincai's arithmetic of 1785 it is the operation of division: despre divizie sau împărțirea numerilor “on division or the dividing of numbers”.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The arithmetic sense “division” and the general senses “partition, dissension” are now obsolete; they passed to diviziune.^[4][3] The military sense, a large unit of several regiments, comes from the Russian army: a text of 1788 tells of a general crossing cu toate divizioanele lor “with all their divisions”.^[3][4] It also names the command of such a unit and, formerly, a group of warships of one class.^[5][11]

In the 20th century it became a league of sports teams: prima divizie “the first division”.^[3][5] The press now also uses it for a department of a company, after English and French division.^[12]

Timeline

• 1774 – the first record.^[6][3]
• 1785 – “division” in arithmetic in Șincai's textbook.^[4][3]
• 1788 – divizioane, military divisions, in a text published by Iorga.^[3]
• 1975 – a football team playing in prima divizie in the newspaper Scânteia.^[3]
• 2008 – a company's division of flat steel products, in the press.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) A division: a large unit made up of several regiments of different arms, or of several warships; also its headquarters.^[5][4]
2. Each of the leagues in which teams play in a national championship: divizia A.^[5][4]
3. A department of a company or an administration.^[13][12][4]

Related words

• diviziune
• divizion
• divide
• Latin dīvīsiō

Usage notes

General de divizie is the general who commands a division.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. divizie
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. diviziune
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 735
5. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 323
6. ^ 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. divizie
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 435
8. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 95
9. ^ a b Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 385
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 137
12. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. divizie
13. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. divizie