fabrică

Forms

fabrică f (plural fabrici)^[1] An old variant favrică is recorded by Tiktin and in the Lexicon de la Buda (1825); Graur thought it could only be explained through Greek.^[2][3] Colloquial speech also has făbrică, with the plural făbrici or făbrice.^[4]

Etymology

Its source is disputed.^[3][5] Ciorănescu takes it as borrowed from Italian fabbrica, that is Latin fabrica (“workshop”) by way of Italian, noting that Sanzewitsch took it from Russian фабрика (fábrika).^[5] MDA2 gives French fabrique, German Fabrik and the Russian word; the neologism dictionaries French and Russian, with German or Latin;^{[4][6][7][1][2]} Wiktionary Italian and Latin;^{[4][6][7][1][2]} Tiktin the Latin word as a neologism, also through other languages.^{[4][6][7][1][2]} Graur objected to a French origin because of the stress on the first syllable, which French would not give; a German origin fits only the Transylvanian form stressed on the second syllable.^[3] He noted that the first records are a translation from Russian of 1785 and one from Italian of 1795, and thought the word was known in the 18th century through Modern Greek φάμπρικα (fábrika), at a time when Greek was the most widespread foreign language.^[3]

Aromanian fabrică comes from Italian as well, like the Greek word, Bulgarian фабрика (fabrika) and Turkish fabrika;^[5][8][9] Papahagi takes it through the Greek.^[5][8][9] Latin fabrica is formed on faber (“craftsman, smith”).^[10][1] Inherited from the related verb fabricāre, Romanian has fereca, and the French descendant forge gave forjă.^{[11][12][13][1]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1770, and MDA2's first record is a document of before 1803 in the Uricariul.^[2][4] Graur, after Ursu, gives a translation from Russian of 1785, which remained in manuscript, and a translation from Italian of 1795.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word meant a manufactory, an establishment where goods were made, and Scriban speaks of the factory price and the factory mark.^[14][15] The modern definition is an industrial enterprise that turns raw materials into finished goods with machines, in series and in large quantities.^[16] A colloquial expression grew from it: a lua (pe cineva) în fabrică “to scold someone, call to account; beat”, and a intra în fabrica cuiva “to get a scolding from someone”.^[16][4]

Timeline

• 1770 – the first record, after Tiktin.^[2]
• 1785 – in a manuscript translation from Russian.^[3]
• 1795 – in a translation from Italian.^[3]
• before 1803 – in a document of the Uricariul.^[4]
• 1825 – favrică in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A factory: an industrial enterprise that uses machines and plant to turn raw materials into finished products, in series and in large quantities: fabrică de zahăr “sugar factory”.^[16][4][17]

Word family

• fabrica
• fabricant
• fabricat

Related words

• faur
• fereca
• forjă

Usage notes

A lua (pe cineva) în fabrică is colloquial for “to scold, reproach someone; to beat someone”, and a intra în fabrica cuiva “to be scolded or beaten by someone”.^[16][4] In Transylvania and Bucharest the word is also stressed on the second syllable.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. fabrică
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Graur, Alexandru (1975), Alte etimologii românești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. fabrică
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 869
5. ^ a b c d Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. fabrică
6. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. fabrică
7. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. fabrică
8. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
9. ^ a b Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 208
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. fabrica
12. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3122
14. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 488
15. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 216
16. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 377
17. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. fabrică