egoist

Forms

egoist m or n (feminine singular egoistă, masculine plural egoiști, feminine/neuter plural egoiste)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French égoïste.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin and the DN also name Italian egoista, and the DLR compares German Egoist.^[5][6][7] The French word is a learned derivative (1721) of Latin egō (“I”), first a noun and an adjective from 1793.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Ion Budai-Deleanu, dated 1800 by Tiktin.^[5] MDA2 and the DLR cite his Trei viteji: „În monarhie și cel mai bun Egoist a să face e silit” “in a monarchy even the best man is forced to become an egoist”.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The word spread in the 1830s with the moral and political prose of the time: Golescu, Marcovici, Asachi and the newspapers use it of the man who thinks only of himself, often against the patriot.^[7] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 defines it as one who cares and speaks only of himself.^[9] The noun egoism is recorded from 1827.^[3] Besides people, the adjective is used of social groups and of feelings and acts.^[3]

Timeline

• 1800 – first record, in Budai-Deleanu.^[5]
• 1827 – the noun egoism.^[3]
• 1835 – in the press.^[7]
• 1848 – listed by Negulici.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. selfish, egoistic: ruled by egoism; also of feelings or acts that show it.^[2][3][1]
2. (of social groups) seeking only the interests of the group.^[3]

Noun

1. An egoist, a selfish person.^[2][3]

Related words

• egoism

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 345
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 793
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. egoist
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. egoist
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. egoist
7. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. egoist
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. égoïste
9. ^ a b 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. s.v. egoist