găsire

Forms

găsire f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian găsi + -re, the long infinitive of the verb used as a noun.^[2][3][1] The origin of the verb is disputed: MDA2 takes it from Old Church Slavonic гасити (gasiti), and Ciorănescu gives the same source with its sense “to extinguish”, which he finds very odd for “to find”.^[2][4] Wiktionary calls the verb of unknown origin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is in Iacob Negruzzi's collected writings, published from 1893, where it means the finding of someone or something.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun covers both finding by chance and finding after a search.^[2] It also lived in set phrases: the old greeting găsire bună, a wish for a happy meeting again, and the rare găsire cu cale “a decision”, from the verbal phrase a găsi cu cale “to see fit”.^[2][1] The dictionaries of the 1950s define it only as the action of finding.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 1893 – in Iacob Negruzzi's collected writings, the first record.^[2]
• 1955 – the DLRLC defines it as the action of finding.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. finding: the act of finding someone or something, by chance or by searching, and its result.^[3][2][1]
2. (obsolete) In găsire bună: a wish for a happy reunion.^[2]
3. (rare) In găsire cu cale: a decision.^[2]

Related words

• găsi

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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, 972
3. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 429
4. ^ 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. găsi
5. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. găsire
6. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 364