folositor

Forms

folositor m or n (feminine singular folositoare, masculine plural folositori, feminine/neuter plural folositoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian folosi + -tor, with the agent suffix that makes verbal adjectives.^[2][3][4][1] The DA describes it as the verbal adjective of the verb with the suffix -itor.^[5] folosi was made from the noun folos “benefit”, which comes from Modern Greek όφελος (ófelos, “benefit”) in a shortened form, φελός (felós).^[2][6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Coresi's psalter of 1577, where the word is a noun, “helper, protector”: „Tu, Doamne, folositoriu mieu ești” “Thou, Lord, art my helper” (Psalm 3:3).^[4] The DA notes that the Psaltirea Scheiană has agiutoriul in the same verse.^[5] The adjective “useful” is in Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581: „această folositoare de suflet carte” “this book useful to the soul”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In church language the masculine noun “protector, helper” was said mostly of God, and the feminine folositoare became an epithet of the Mother of God, as in Dosoftei and in the Menaion of 1776.^[5][4][2] A Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of about 1660 uses it for Slavonic заступник “protector, intercessor”.^[7] This sense is now obsolete.^[2][8]

The adjective “useful, profitable” lived on, with the negative nefolositor already in the Bible of 1688.^[5] It can also be used as an adverb: a cheltui folositor “to spend usefully”.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1577 – folositoriu “helper” in Coresi's psalter.^[4]
• 1581 – the adjective in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.^[2][5]
• c. 1660 – it glosses Slavonic заступник in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[7]
• 1688 – folositoare and nefolositoare in the Bucharest Bible.^[10][5]
• 1776 – folositoare of the Mother of God in a Menaion.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. useful, of use; serving a good purpose: sfaturi folositoare “useful advice”.^[3][2]
2. profitable, advantageous.^[2][8]

Noun

1. (obsolete, church) A protector or helper, said mostly of God; the feminine folositoare of the Mother of God.^[2][5]

Word family

• nefolositor

Related words

• folosință
• folosire
• util

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 926
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 404
4. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. folositór
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. folositor
6. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. folos
7. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. folositor
8. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 519
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 314
10. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. 1 Tim 4:9