fatal

Forms

fatal m or n (feminine singular fatală, masculine plural fatali, feminine/neuter plural fatale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French fatal, with Latin fātālis (“of fate, fated”) as a second model, one of the 19th-century neologisms.^[2][3][4][1] The DN names Italian fatale as a third possible model.^[5] The DA and MDA2 give only French, while Scriban gives only Latin.^[6][4][7] The French word was borrowed about 1355 from Latin, where it is formed on fātum (“destiny”) with the suffix -ālis.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of the neologisms of 1848 has it, with the Latin fatalis beside it, in the sense of what carries an inevitable destiny that cannot be escaped, and also “bringing misfortune”.^[10] Costinescu in 1870 gives the same two senses, “fixed, inescapable” and “disastrous”, with phrases such as oră fatală “the fatal hour”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Latin sense “fixed by fate, inevitable” and the sense “bringing misfortune or death” came in together.^[10][6] The DA quotes the first from Eminescu and the second from Alexandrescu and Negruzzi, who wrote of a duel that cost Pushkin his life.^[6] Today the sense of a disaster or death comes first in DEX, and the sense of fate is literary.^[2][1] The phrase femeie fatală, after French femme fatale, gave the word the sense of an irresistible and ruinous attraction.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[10]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary, with oră fatală and amor fatal.^[11]
• 1886 – in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[13]
• 1895 – MDA2's record, from an edition of Eminescu's poems.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. fatal, disastrous: having grave consequences; causing death: o greșeală fatală, o lovitură fatală.^[2][4][1]
2. Unhappy, unfortunate, sad: un deznodământ fatal.^[2]
3. (literary) Fixed by fate; inevitable, that cannot be avoided.^[2][4][1]
4. Causing an irresistible and unhappy attraction: femeie fatală “femme fatale”.^[2][4]

Related words

• fatalism
• fatalist
• fatalitate
• fatalmente
• Latin fātum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 382
3. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. fatal
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 879
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. fatal
6. ^ a b c 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. fatal
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 495
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. fatal
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 425
12. ^ 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. fatal
13. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 223