genetic

Forms

genetic m or n (feminine singular genetică, masculine plural genetici, feminine/neuter plural genetice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French génétique.^[2][3][4][1] The French adjective came in through German genetisch from Ancient Greek γεννητικός (gennētikós, “of generation”), first in 1800 in a translation of Herder; the noun sense “the science of heredity” follows the English word genetics, proposed by William Bateson in 1905.^[5] DETS describes -genetic as a combining form from Greek through French, English and German.^[6] Scriban instead derived it from geneză on the model of sintetic from sinteză, and preferred genezic,^[7] which MDA2 records as a rare synonym.^[2] Wiktionary adds that it can be analysed within Romanian as genă with -etic.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barcianu's dictionary of 1886 glosses genetic as “concerning the origin of a thing”, German genetisch.^[8] MDA2 cites the DA as its first record.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was “relating to origin or birth”: Șăineanu in 1929 gave “of birth”, with the example înrudire genetică “genetic kinship”,^[9] and Scriban in 1939 “relating to genesis”.^[7] The DLRLC still has only this sense, with mineralogie genetică, the branch of mineralogy that studies how minerals form.^[10] Later dictionaries add the noun genetică, the science of heredity and variation, and the adjective's sense “relating to genetics, hereditary”.^[3][4] Recent compounds include inginerie genetică “genetic engineering”,^[4] and the press has cod genetic and manipulare genetică.^[11] In literary studies, critică genetică explains a work through the process of its writing, from drafts and documents.^[2]

Timeline

• 1886 – genetic “concerning the origin of a thing” in Barcianu's dictionary.^[8]
• 1929 – înrudire genetică “kinship by birth” in Șăineanu.^[9]
• 1939 – Scriban prefers genezic.^[7]
• 1955–1957 – mineralogie genetică in the DLRLC.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. genetic: relating to genetics or to genesis; hereditary: o boală genetică.^[3][2][4]
2. In inginerie genetică: genetic engineering, the work with genes and chromosomes in vitro to produce organisms with chosen hereditary traits.^[4]

Noun

1. genetică (feminine): genetics, the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in living organisms.^[3][2]

Related words

• geneză
• genă
• French génétique

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 983
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 433
4. ^ a b c d e Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. genetic
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Andrei, Nicolae (1987), Dicționar etimologic de termeni științifici: elemente de compunere greco-latine, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
7. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună
8. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 249
9. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 271
10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 370
11. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)