favorit

Forms

favorit m or n (feminine singular favorită, masculine plural favoriți, feminine/neuter plural favorite)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French favori (feminine favorite), with Italian favorito as a second model, as DEX, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries give it.^[2][3][4] Tiktin names only the Italian word, “also indirectly”, Scriban the French word, which he takes from the Italian, and Wiktionary the French form favorit.^[5][6][1] For the sense “side whiskers” DEX and MDA2 add Russian фаворит (favorit); the DA explains that the fashion of such whiskers came to Romania through the Russians around 1828.^[2][3][7]

French borrowed the word in 1541–1546 from the Italian, the past participle of favorire (“to favour”).^[8] The form in ⟨-it⟩ copies the Italian participle, while ⟨favori⟩ follows the Middle French verb favorir.^[1] The Italian participle favorito is recorded from the late 14th century;^[9][10] the verb is formed on favore (“favour”), a loan from Latin favor.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1787.^[5] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 defines the adjective as “who pleases more” and “the one whom someone loves more than the others”, with an example about peoples badly governed when emperors are governed by their favourites.^[11] MDA2's first record is Constantin Negruzzi's writings, collected in 1872: „Balzac era autorul favorit al d-nei B.” “Balzac was Mrs B.'s favourite author”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The adjective “preferred” and the noun “favourite of a ruler” came together from French.^[7][12] The feminine favorită also meant a sovereign's mistress: Costinescu glosses sultana favorită as the one the Sultan prefers in the harem, and Scriban cites Madame de Pompadour.^[12][6]

In the plural, favoriți or favorite are side whiskers that leave the chin bare.^[7][2] Negruzzi describes a man who wore large whiskers in 1828, and another who would fall ill if one hair of a whisker were longer than the other.^[13] The sports sense, a competitor or a horse thought most likely to win, entered with the 20th-century neologism dictionaries;^[14][8] French had it from 1855.^[14][8]

Timeline

• 1787 – the first record.^[5]
• 1848 – adjective and noun in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[11]
• 1870 – sultana favorită and the noun “favourite of a prince” in Costinescu.^[12]
• 1872 – autorul favorit “the favourite author” and favoriți “side whiskers” in Constantin Negruzzi's collected writings.^[3][7]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it with German Günstling and Liebling.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. favourite, preferred, liked best: mâncarea mea favorită.^[2][1]

Noun

1. A person loved or valued above others by someone.^[2][3]
2. Specifically, a protégé of a sovereign or a powerful person, who profits from that position; in the feminine, a monarch's mistress.^[2][3]
3. (sports) A competitor considered the most likely to win.^[2][4]
4. (usually in the plural) Side whiskers, hair grown on both sides of a man's face, leaving the chin bare.^[2][13]

Related words

• favoare
• favoriza
• Italian favorito

Usage notes

In the sense “side whiskers” the plural is favoriți or the neuter favorite.^[2][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 383
3. ^ 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, 880
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. favorit
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. favorit
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 495
7. ^ a b c d e 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. favorit
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b 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. favorit
12. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 426
13. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 265
14. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. favorit
15. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 223