format

Forms

format n (plural formate)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French format (“size, dimensions of a book”), as DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary give it.^[2][3][1][4] The dictionaries of neologisms compare Italian formato as well,^[5] and Scriban derives the French word from the Italian one.^[6] Tiktin instead takes the noun from German Format.^[7] The French word is probably borrowed (1723) from the Italian word, there “size of paper”, the past participle of formare (“to form”), from Latin fōrmō (“to form, shape”).^[8]

Recent senses, the format of a television programme and of electronic data, follow English format.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the noun to 1809, in Petru Maior's sermons printed at Buda.^[3] In 1848 Negulici defined it as the size of a book in height and length.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the size of a book, which depends on how the printed sheet is folded.^[10][11] From the sheet and the book it spread to the dimensions of any flat object and to size in general.^[2][12] In printing it is also the size of the type set on a page.^[2][3]

In the last decades the word took new senses from English: the plan and style of a radio or television programme, and the structure in which digital data are stored and displayed (format electronic).^[9][3] Technical language also uses it as the verbal noun of forma in mașină de format, a foundry machine that packs moulding sand.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 1809 – first record, in Petru Maior's sermons.^[3]
• 1848 – Negulici's dictionary of neologisms: the size of a book.^[10]
• 1931 – CADE: the size of a sheet of paper, of a book and of a printed line.^[12]
• 2000s – press records of the senses “format of a programme” and “electronic format”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The set of dimensions that give the shape and size of a flat object; by extension, size.^[2][3]
2. The size of a printed work, set by the way its sheets are folded; in printing, the size of the type on a page.^[2][3]
3. (computing) The way data are arranged on a disk or for display, as in format electronic.^[3][9]
4. The plan and style of a radio or television programme.^[9]

Related words

• forma
• formă
• French format

Usage notes

The adjective format, formată “trained, educated; mature” (om format “a mature person”) is a separate word, the participle of forma.^[2][13] The noun's plural is formate, with an older formaturi.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 406
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 930
4. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
5. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 521
7. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. formát
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
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. format
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 257
12. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. format
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 317