extraterestru

Forms

extraterestru m (plural extratereștri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French extraterrestre.^[2][3][4][1] The French word is formed from extra- and terrestre (“terrestrial”).^[1] Marcu and Maneca compare Latin extra (“outside”) and terra (“earth”).^[5] Dimitrescu compares the English word extraterrestrial.^[6] In Romanian the word reads as extra- and terestru.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CADE of 1931 has the adjective, “being outside the Earth”, and the DLR cites it first.^[7][4] MDA2 dates the word only to the DEX of 1975.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective came first: Lucian Blaga wrote of a conscious „voință extraterestră” “extraterrestrial will” that Strindberg saw at work in human history.^[4] In the press of the 1960s and 1970s it described life and civilizations beyond the Earth.^[6][4] Critics also used it figuratively for something far removed from everyday reality.^[4]

The noun, a supposed inhabitant of another planet, is recorded later, in the dictionaries of neologisms, the DEX and the press.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 1931 – the adjective in the CADE, the first record.^[7][4]
• 1961 – ființele raționale extraterestre “extraterrestrial rational beings” in the press.^[6]
• 1970 – civilizațiile extraterestre in România literară.^[4]
• 1975 – the word in the DEX, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 1980 – the noun “extraterrestrial being” in the press.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. extraterrestrial: situated, existing or coming from outside the Earth.^[2][4]

Noun

1. An extraterrestrial being, an alien: a supposed inhabitant of another planet.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• terestru
• extra-

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. 375
3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 867
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. extraterestru
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. extraterestru
6. ^ a b c d e Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. extraterestru
7. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. extraterestru