fan

Forms

fan m (plural fani)^[1] The press also uses a feminine fană, plural fane: „invitat de mai multe fane” “invited by several female fans” (2000).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English fan (“admirer”) and also borrowed from French fan, according to DEX, the DILF, NODEX and Wiktionary.^[3][4][5][1] Marcu & Maneca also name Italian fan.^[6] The English word is a shortening of fanatic.^[6] French took it from English in the 1920s.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is the third edition of Marcu & Maneca's dictionary of neologisms (1978).^[7] Marcu & Maneca define it as an anglicism for a young admirer of film or pop stars, or a follower of jazz.^[6] In the press Dimitrescu quotes it from 1980, in inverted commas: „eram «fan»-ul lui” “I was his fan”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

At first a word for the admirers of singers and screen stars, it soon came to be used of sports supporters and of the followers of politicians, as in a press report of 1993 on the male and female fans of party leaders.^[6][7][2] DEX labels it bookish in 1998 but no longer in 2009.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 1978 – in the third edition of Marcu & Maneca's dictionary of neologisms, the first record.^[7]
• 1980 – „eram «fan»-ul lui” in the press.^[2]
• 1993 – the feminine fane in the press.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fan: an enthusiastic admirer of a star, a band, a team or an artistic movement; a supporter.^[3][7]

Related words

• fanatic

Usage notes

An older word fan (neuter, plural fanuri) meant the glass case of a lantern.^[7][9] Tiktin dates it to 1652, in the law code Îndreptarea legii, and it is from Modern Greek φανός (fanós, “lantern”).^[10][7] It is now obsolete.^[7] In old texts fan is also a spelling of fân “hay”.^[11] Fan is also a pet form of the personal name Ștefan.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. fan
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 380
4. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. fan
5. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. fan
6. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. fan
7. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 875
8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 366
9. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. fan
10. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. fan
11. ^ Gaster, M. (1891), Chrestomatie română: texte tipărite și manuscrise (sec. XVI–XIX), dialectale și populare, cu o introducere, gramatică și un glosar româno-francez, vol. II, Leipzig: Brockhaus / București: Socec
12. ^ Iordan, Iorgu (1983), Dicționar al numelor de familie românești, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 193