formație

Forms

formație f (plural formații)^[1] The variant formațiune was usual in the 19th century: Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 lists formațiune first, then formație.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French formation, with Latin formātiō (“a forming, design”) as a second source, as MDA2 and DEX give it.^[4][3][5][1] The Latin noun is formed from fōrmō (“to shape, form”) with -tiō.^[1][6] The French word goes back to Old French formacion, itself from Latin.^[1] Wiktionary also gives the analysis from Romanian forma + -ție.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848 lists formație, glossed with Latin conformatio and explained as “forming, form”.^[7] MDA2's first record is later, Odobescu in 1887, where a material undergoes a proces de formațiune “process of formation”.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was abstract: the making up, organising or forming of something.^[7][2][3] Concrete senses followed: in geology a series of rock layers laid down in one period, in the army the arrangement of a unit for parade, march or battle, and in Marxist political economy formație social-economică, a stage of society.^[3][8][9]

In the 20th century it came to mean a group of people acting together: an artistic ensemble or a band, a sports team and its line-up, and the arrangement of the players.^[3][4][1] Dimitrescu records formație-fanion “leading team” from 1984, said of football clubs and later of rock bands.^[10] MDN adds the sense of a person's training in a field.^[5]

Timeline

• 1848 – first record, in Negulici's dictionary.^[7]
• 1870 – formațiune and formație in Costinescu's dictionary.^[2]
• 1887 – Odobescu's proces de formațiune.^[4][8]
• 1984 – formație-fanion “leading team”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The making up, organising or forming of something; its structure.^[3][1]
2. (geology) A formation: a series of rock layers laid down in one geological period.^[3]
3. (military) The arrangement of soldiers for a purpose: în formație de marș “in marching order”.^[3][11]
4. An artistic ensemble; a band: o formație de muzică rock.^[3][1]
5. (sport) The line-up of a team; a team; the arrangement of a group of players.^[3]
6. A combination of figures or positions in some games, such as chess or the lottery.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 407
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 930
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
10. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional