grad

Forms

grad n (plural grade)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from French grade, with Latin gradus (“step, degree”) and German Grad as further sources in DEX.^[2] Ciorănescu and Wiktionary give French, while MDA2, Tiktin, Scriban and the DA, which calls it a neologism, give Latin.^{[3][1][4][5][6][7]} The Latin noun meant “step, pace”, then “step of a stair” and “degree, rank”, and is related to gradior (“to step, walk”).^[8][9] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ- (“to walk, go”).^[1] The French word is itself a borrowing of 1578 from Italian grado or the Latin word.^[10]

Graur lists it with other Romanian loans of the same Latin family: gradație, congres, progres and retrograd.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of about 1783, in a text published in the Annals of the Romanian Academy.^[5] The DA quotes a calendar of 1814 that reckons 15 miles to a degree, and MDA2's first record is Iancu Văcărescu's translation of Collin's Regulus (1834).^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

The word came in with two groups of senses: a step on a scale, such as the degree of a circle, a thermometer or a barometer, and a step in a hierarchy, a rank or dignity.^[7][12] Negulici (1848) gives the second, grad de onoare “degree of honour” and grad de știință “degree of learning”.^[13] From the military rank came the popular use of grad for an officer or NCO, as when the DA's example has a captain swearing ca un grad inferior “like a lower rank”.^[7]

The scientific senses multiplied in the 19th and 20th centuries: the degree of an equation, alcoholic strength, degrees of comparison in grammar and of kinship (grad de rudenie).^[2][7] In Muntenia grad is also a name for an alcoholmeter or a lactometer.^[14][7]

Timeline

• c. 1783 – first record.^[5]
• 1814 – a degree of 15 miles, in a calendar.^[7]
• 1834 – in Iancu Văcărescu's translation of Regulus.^[4]
• 1848 – “rank, degree of honour” in Negulici's dictionary.^[13]
• 1870 – Costinescu gives the senses of rank, intensity and the divisions of measuring instruments.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A degree: a unit of measure for various quantities on a scale, such as temperature or angles: grad Celsius, grad de latitudine.^[2][4]
2. (mathematics) the exponent of a monomial, or the highest exponent in a polynomial: ecuație de gradul al doilea “quadratic equation”.^[2]
3. A value measured against a reference: grad alcoolic “alcoholic strength”.^[2]
4. A stage or level in a process or situation: grad de rudenie “degree of kinship”;^[2] în ultimul grad “in the extreme”.^[2]
5. A rank in a hierarchy, especially a military one;^[2][7] (popular) a person holding such a rank.^[2][7]

Word family

• grada
• gradat
• gradație
• degrada

Related words

• retrograd
• progres
• Latin gradus

Usage notes

The plural is grade; the DA records an old and popular plural graduri, in Iancu Văcărescu, Odobescu and Marian.^[7][4] The learned element -grad “walking” (plantigrad) is a separate entry, from French -grade.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 445
3. ^ 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. grad
4. ^ 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, 1014
5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. grad
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 570
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. grad
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
12. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 496
13. ^ a b 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
14. ^ Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. 178
15. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. grad