falit

Forms

falit m (plural faliți)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian fallito (“bankrupt”), the past participle of fallire (“to fail; to go bankrupt”).^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} Scriban adds that Italian is also the source of French failli.^[7] The DN names German Fallit beside the Italian word.^[8] The Italian verb comes from Latin fallō (“to deceive; to fail”).^[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has the word in its Latinist spelling falitŭ, as a noun and adjective for a merchant who has gone bankrupt, with mofluz as an equivalent.^[10] MDA2 takes its first record from a poem of Macedonski in the 1939 edition of his works.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to commerce: a trader, industrialist or banker declared insolvent by a court.^[8][2] The dictionaries of 1870 and 1931 explain it with the older mofluz.^[10][5] A figurative sense, someone who has failed completely or is compromised politically or morally, is recorded in the DLRLC.^[11][2] MDA2 also gives a colloquial, contemptuous use for a person of no importance.^[3]

Timeline

• 1870 – falitŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[10]
• 1893–1895 – in Damé's dictionary.^[12]
• 1931 – in CADE, as a trader who has stopped payments.^[5]
• 1939 – first record in MDA2, from Macedonski's works.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (also as a noun) In a state of bankruptcy; insolvent.^[2][13]
2. (figurative) Having failed completely; politically or morally compromised: un politician falit.^[2][11]

Related words

• faliment
• Italian fallito

References

1. ^ a b 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. 379
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, 874
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
5. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
6. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 491
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional