efectua

Forms

efectua (present efectuez, third-person singular efectuează, past participle efectuat); first conjugation.^[1][2] Older forms are efectui, efeptui, efecta and, rarely, efăptui;^[3][4] Sbiera wrote „nemții însă veniră și efeptuiră prin aceasta ca partida credincioșilor constituțiunii să dispună în el de majoritate” “but the Germans came and brought it about that the party loyal to the constitution had a majority in it”.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French effectuer, with Medieval Latin effectuō as a second source.^[5][2][4][1] The DLR and the DN name French alone.^[3][6] The rare variant efăptui is the same word adapted to Romanian sounds, after faptă (“deed”).^[5]

The French verb was borrowed in 1545, earlier as affectuer, from the Medieval Latin verb meaning “to produce”, recorded in 1344, a derivative of effectus (“execution, accomplishment”), the noun of efficiō (“to bring about”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the variant efăptui in Foaie pentru minte of 1844, the sense being “to carry out, to bring about”;^[5] efectui follows in Pavel Vasici's translation of Hufeland's Macroviotica and the form efectua in 1855.^[5] MDA2 dates Vasici's translation to 1844, DELR to 1845.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant “to carry out, to bring into being” from the start, with a variety of forms (efectui, efeptui, efecta) until efectua prevailed; the old subjunctive să efecte and să efectue survive in 19th-century texts.^[3][5] In the 20th century it became the common verb of technical and administrative prose: tests and measurements are efectuate, and so are transports, inspections and payments, and a worker efectuează a number of working days.^[3][2] From it Romanian formed reefectua “to carry out again”, recorded in 1955.^[5]

Timeline

• 1844 – efăptui in Foaie pentru minte, the first record.^[5]
• 1844 or 1845 – efectui in Vasici's translation of Hufeland.^[4][5]
• 1855 – the form efectua.^[5]
• 1955 – reefectua “to carry out again”, in a journal of electrical engineering.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To carry out, to perform, to execute: Medicul a efectuat mai multe analize.^[2][4][1]
2. (transitive) To make real, to bring about; to put into practice.^[4][3]
3. (reflexive, passive) To be carried out, to take place: Plata se efectuează lunar.^[3]

Word family

• reefectua

Related words

• efect
• efectiv

Usage notes

It is pronounced with the hiatus -tu-a: present efectuez, efectuează.^[2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 343
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. efectua
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 789
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. efect
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. efectua
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert