donator

Forms

donator m (plural donatori, feminine equivalent donatoare)^[1] The 19th century also used donatore, after Italian: Hamangiu's civil code says that „donatorele nu poate repara, prin niciun act confirmativ, vițiurile unei donațiuni între vii” “the donor cannot remedy, by any act of confirmation, the defects of a gift between living persons”.^[2][3] A form donător occurs too: the funds are to be used „după voia expresă a donătorilor” “according to the express will of the donors”.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French donateur, and equally borrowed from Latin dōnātor, a case of the multiple etymology usual for neologisms.^[4][3][5][6] Wiktionary names French alone, and Scriban Latin alone.^[1][7] The old variant ending in -e follows Italian donatore.^[2] The Latin noun is formed on dōnō (“to give”) with the agent suffix -tor.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR date the word from Heliade Rădulescu's Paralelism între dialectele român și italian (1841).^[3][2] Tiktin first records it in Barcianu's dictionary of 1868, glossed Schenker “giver”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the law of gifts: Filimon praises the donor of an estate to a monastery, and legal handbooks contrast the donator with the donatar who receives the gift.^[2] In the 20th century donator de sânge “blood donor” was added, and medicine extended it to a person who gives an organ, tissue or cells.^[4][9] Prison slang uses it for an inmate who shares the food parcels he receives from home.^[10]

Timeline

• 1841 – in Heliade Rădulescu's Paralelism, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1868 – in Barcianu's dictionary.^[5]
• 1870 – Costinescu defines it as one who makes a gift and glosses it with French donateur.^[11]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it with German Geschenkgeber.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A donor: a person who makes a donation or a gift; feminine donatoare.^[4][3][1]
2. donator de sânge: a blood donor.^[4][3]
3. (medicine) A person who gives an organ, tissue or cells to another.^[9]
4. (prison slang) An inmate who shares the food parcels sent from home.^[10]

Related words

• dona
• donație
• donatar
• Latin dōnātor
• French donateur

Usage notes

In the sense “blood donor” the DN and MDN also give the synonym donor.^[13][9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. donator
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, 745
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 327
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. donator
6. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. donator
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 442
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. donator
10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. donator
11. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 355
12. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 194
13. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. donator