francez

Forms

francez m or n (feminine singular franceză, masculine plural francezi, feminine/neuter plural franceze)^[1] The 19th century also had franțez: „stofele... franțeze” “French fabrics” (Negruzzi).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian francese, and also borrowed from French français: DEX, MDA2, DILF and Wiktionary name both, DLRM and Tiktin Italian, DA and the neologism dictionary MDN French.^{[4][3][5][1][6][7][2][8]} The Italian word was taken from Old French franceis, made on the name of France, Late Latin Francia (“land of the Franks”), from Francus (“a Frank”);^[9][10][11] Gabinschi traces the people's name to a Germanic word that first meant “free man”.^[9][10][11]

Older Romanian had other names for the French, from other sources: franțuz, which Tiktin takes from Slavic and DA from Russian француз (francuz), and franțoz, from German Franzose.^[7][2] The first of these survives in popular speech, with the feminine franțuzoaică and the adjective franțuzesc.^[4][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the word family to about 1640, when Ureche's chronicle has the form franțoz.^[7] MDA2 and DA cite francez and franțez first from Alecu Russo.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun names a person of France and the adjective what belongs to France or the French; the feminine franceză, used as a noun, is the French language.^[4][13] DA notes that in its time the plural was usually francezi, pronounced with /ʒ/ as franceji.^[2] In the 19th century franțuz and its derivatives were common, and franțuzit “frenchified” was a word of mockery for those who imitated French fashions and language.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1640 – the older name franțoz, from German, in Ureche's chronicle.^[7]
• 19th century – francez and franțez in Alecu Russo and Negruzzi.^[2][3]
• 1893–1895 – Damé enters francez and refers to franțuz.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Frenchman, a person of France or from France; franțuz.^[4][1]
2. (feminine, franceză) The French language.^[4][5]

Adjective

1. Belonging to or relating to France or the French; franțuzesc: bucătăria franceză “French cuisine”.^[4][3]

Related words

• franțuz
• franțuzesc
• Franța
• Italian francese

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. francez
3. ^ 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, 937
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 412
5. ^ a b Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. 2, s.v. francez
6. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. francez
7. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. francez
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. francez
9. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. francese
10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. français
11. ^ a b Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 105
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. francez
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 324
14. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 1, s.v. francez