federal

Forms

federal m or n (feminine singular federală, masculine plural federali, feminine/neuter plural federale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French fédéral, the only source that DEX, DN and MDN name.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The DA and Scriban also take it from French and trace the French adjective back to Latin foedus (“treaty, alliance”).^[6][7] The French word is formed on that noun with the suffix -al.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in our sources is Negulici's dictionary of 1848, printed in the transitional Cyrillic alphabet, which explains the phrase guvern federal as a government made up of several states united by a general alliance.^[8] MDA2 gives no earlier record than the DA of 1913.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word belonged to political description: Costinescu glossed it in 1870 as having to do with a federation, said of a government made up of several states joined in an alliance.^[9] Early 20th-century dictionaries illustrate it with the Swiss federal council (consiliu federal).^[10][11] The modern dictionaries define it as belonging to a federation of states, relating to one, or organised as one, with the synonym federativ.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1848 – federal in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, the first record found.^[8]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary, of a government formed by several states.^[9]
• 1913 – in the Academy dictionary (DA), the first record MDA2 gives.^[5][6]
• 1931 – consiliul federal elvețian “the Swiss Federal Council” in CADE.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to a federation of states.^[2][5]
2. Relating to a federation: guvernul federal “the federal government”.^[2][12]
3. Organised as a federation, made up of member states; federativ.^[2][4]

Related words

• federație
• French fédéral
• Latin foedus

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 386
3. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. federal
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. federal
5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 890
6. ^ a b 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. federal
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 498
8. ^ 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. federal
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 427
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 247
11. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. federal
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. federal