domestic

Forms

domestic m or n (feminine singular domestică, masculine plural domestici, feminine/neuter plural domestice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French domestique and Latin domesticus (“of the house”), the two sources DEX, DN and MDN name.^[2][3][4] DELR also gives learned Latin and French.^[5] Ciorănescu and Tiktin name only the Latin word, the DLR Latin with French as a comparison, and MDA2 French and Latin.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} The Latin adjective is formed on domus (“house”).^[5][1]

The same Latin word had already been inherited as the old adjective dumesnic (also dumeastec, dumestic and other variants), recorded from 1559–1560.^[5][6] Pușcariu explained its ⟨n⟩ by the adjectives in -nic.^[5] Candrea and Densusianu proposed the influence of Old Church Slavonic домашьнь (domašĭnĭ, “domestic”), which DELR finds unnecessary and Ciorănescu accepts as a blend.^[5][6][10] The neologism is thus a doublet of the inherited adjective.^[6] The Latin word survives as Aromanian dumeastec.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates domestic to 1786, in a forestry code, for animals reared by people.^[5] Tiktin's first record is from Șincai in 1806, in animal domestic “domestic animal”.^[7] MDA2 and the DLR, which treat the old forms under this headword, start with dumeastec in the Moldavian law code of Vasile Lupu: „vreun dobitoc dumeastec” “some domestic animal”, caught in a snare.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “tame, kept by people”, was that of the inherited dumesnic too, which also meant “gentle”, “civilized”, “cultivated” of plants and “fertile” of soil.^[5][6] The neologism added the sense “of the household, of family life”, and by extension “private, intimate”.^[2][9] In the 19th century it was also a noun, “servant”: Negulici's dictionary of 1848 gives it only in that sense.^[12][5][9] Recent press usage applies it to what happens within a country or an organization, as in transport domestic “domestic transport”.^[13]

DELR records a separate domestic “leader of a church choir” from 1652, borrowed from Modern Greek δομέστικος (doméstikos), itself from Latin domesticus.^[5]

Timeline

• 1786 – domestic, the neologism, in a forestry code.^[5]
• 1806 – animal domestic in Șincai.^[7]
• 1813 – the verb domestici “to tame”.^[5]
• 1848 – domestic “servant” and domesticitate “domesticity; the servants” in Negulici.^[5][12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of animals: domestic, reared by people and kept about the house for some use.^[2][14]
2. Of or relating to the home, the household and family life; by extension private, intimate.^[2][9]
3. (recent) Within a country or an organization; internal, national.^[13]

Noun

1. (obsolete) A servant.^[12][5][9]

Word family

• domestici
• domesticitate

Related words

• dumesnic
• Latin domesticus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 327
3. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. domestic
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. domestic
5. ^ 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. domestic
6. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. domestic
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. domestic
8. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. domestic
9. ^ 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, 743
10. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2732
12. ^ a b c 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. 146
13. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. domestic
14. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 148