dronă

Forms

dronă f (plural drone)^[1] Dimitrescu's dictionary of recent words also records a masculine variant.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English drone, a borrowing of the early 2000s.^[2][1] The DLR names French drone beside the English word, and Dimitrescu compares it.^[3][2] The French word is itself from English.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first quotations Dimitrescu gives are from the press of February 2002: a reconnaissance aircraft without a pilot, operated by the CIA, which attacked a group of people in eastern Afghanistan.^[2] A quotation of 2004 still explains the word: a small aircraft without a pilot, “a «drone», as the technical name goes”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word entered as a military term for an unmanned spy or reconnaissance aircraft, and the DLR, which quotes a newspaper of 2004, defines it so.^[3][2] In 2007 the press already wrote of larger aircraft than the drones then in use.^[2]

Timeline

• 2002 – the first press quotations, for an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.^[2]
• 2004 – a quotation in the newspaper România liberă, cited by the DLR.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drone: an aircraft without a pilot, used for reconnaissance or attack.^[3][2][1]

Related words

• English drone

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. dronă
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dronă