esență

Forms

esență f (plural esențe)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin essentia (“essence”) in its learned use, together with Italian essenza and French essence, according to DELR.^[2] MDA2, DEX and the neologism dictionaries name the French and the Latin word, Tiktin the Latin and the French one, and Wiktionary only the French one.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Latin word was made on esse (“to be”) as if from an unattested present participle, as a philosophical term translating Ancient Greek οὐσία (ousía).^[2][7] Seneca ascribed the coinage to Cicero, Quintilian to the philosopher Plautus or to Verginius Flavus.^[7]

The sense “perfume, volatile extract” came through French and Italian: in French it is recorded from 1587 and in Italian, as essenzia, from before 1535.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the variant essenție in Meșteșugul doftoricesc, a manuscript translation of a medical work made in about 1760–1770.^[2][3] Tiktin dates the word to about 1770.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word had two main senses from the start: the inner nature of a thing, a term of philosophy, and an aromatic volatile liquid.^[2][4] Old and regional forms include esenție, esencie, esință and the Vâlcea forms isență, isenție.^[2][3] Șăineanu's dictionary of 1929 also gives a botanical sense, a particular species of tree, which modern dictionaries extend to a variety of wood.^[10][4]

The adjective esențial is recorded from 1799, in Iorgovici's list of proposed neologisms.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1760–1770 – essenție in Meșteșugul doftoricesc, the first record.^[2]
• 1799 – esențiale “essential” in Iorgovici.^[2]
• 1840 – esenția “to perfume with an essence”, from French.^[2]
• 1962 – esențar, a vessel for making essences, in the newspaper Scânteia.^[2][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy) The essence of a thing: what is fundamental and stable in it, its inner nature, known by thought rather than by the senses.^[4][3]
2. În esență “in essence”: in what is fundamental, in the last analysis.^[4]
3. A volatile liquid with a strong aromatic smell, extracted from plants or made synthetically, used in pharmacy, perfumery and cooking: esență de lămâie.^[4][5]
4. A concentrate that gives a food product when diluted with water.^[4]
5. (forestry) A species of tree that makes up a forest; a variety of timber.^[4][12]

Word family

• esențar
• esenția
• esențial
• esențialism
• esențialitate
• esențializa
• inesențial
• neesențial

Related words

• Latin essentia

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. esență
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 832
4. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 360
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. esență
6. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. esență
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. essence
9. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli, p. s.v. essere
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 234
11. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. esențar
12. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. esență