economic

Forms

economic m or n (feminine singular economică, masculine plural economici, feminine/neuter plural economice)^[1] Older forms began with ⟨i-⟩ after the Greek pronunciation: Asachi wrote of putting in order „interesurile iconomice a țarinii” “the economic interests of the tsarina”.^[2][3] Iconomic survived as a popular form: CADE records birt iconomic, a cheap eating house.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French économique, the source DEX, DLRM and Wiktionary give.^[5][6][1] DELR names three sources together: borrowed from Latin oeconomicus as a learned loan, the French word and Russian экономический (ekonomičeskij).^[7] MDA2's etymon is Modern Greek οἰκονομικός (oikonomikós), and Tiktin derives the older forms with ⟨i-⟩ from that Greek word and the modern one from French.^[8][9] The DA/DLR gives Latin, Modern Greek and French, and the neologism dictionaries add Italian economico.^[2][10] Gabinschi calls it a European loan that reached the languages through Latin from Greek.^[11]

The Latin word comes from Ancient Greek οἰκονομικός (oikonomikós).^[7][12] The French word is itself a learned loan from the Latin one.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the variant iconomicesc in N. Costin, written 1703–1709; it dates the form economic itself to 1832, in the Regulamentul Organic of Wallachia.^[7] Tiktin's first record of the adjective is of 1772, and MDA2's is Budai-Deleanu's lexicon (1818), with the sense “relating to the economy”.^[9][8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was “relating to housekeeping and the management of goods”;^[2][4] CADE still names the household of a family before that of a state.^[2][4] The sense “cheap, saving money” is recorded from 1829, when a newspaper described „un feliu de ceasornic iconomic” “a kind of economical clock” that also ground and made coffee.^[2] The Regulamentul Organic spoke of compensation paid „cu chipul cel mai înlesnitor și mai economic” “in the easiest and most economical way”.^[2] With the growth of political economy the adjective came to mean “belonging to the economy of a country” and “dealing with economics” as a science.^[8][5]

A related adjective, economicos, came separately from Greek in 1785 as iconomicos; in 18th-century Greek it had also developed the sense “fraudulent”, which Romanian used of forged documents.^[7][9]

Timeline

• 1703–1709 – the variant iconomicesc in N. Costin, the first record.^[7]
• 1772 – the first record Tiktin gives for the adjective.^[9]
• 1785 – iconomicos, a separate loan from Greek.^[7]
• 1789 – the variant economicesc.^[7]
• 1818 – Budai-Deleanu's lexicon.^[8][2]
• 1829 – iconomic “economical, cheap”.^[2]
• 1832 – the form economic in the Regulamentul Organic.^[7]
• 1867 – antieconomic, from French.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. economic: belonging to or concerning the economy; also economicesc: criză economică.^[5][8][1]
2. Dealing with or studying the economy: științe economice.^[8]
3. (also adverb) economical, cheap: needing little expense and allowing savings; a synonym of economicos.^[5][13]

Related words

• economie
• econom
• economicos
• economisi
• Ancient Greek οἰκονομικός (oikonomikós)

Usage notes

The compound economico-social “economic and social” is recorded from 1973.^[14] As a neuter noun, economicul means “the economic sphere”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. economic
3. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 459
4. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. economic
5. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 341
6. ^ a b Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. economic
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. economie
8. ^ 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, 784
9. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. economic
10. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. economic
11. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 112
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. economic
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. economic
14. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. economic