gratis

Forms

gratis^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin grātīs (“for nothing, free”);^[2][3][4][5] DEX, MDA2, DN and DILF give French gratis beside the Latin word as its sources.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary calls it a learned borrowing from Latin, and Tiktin a New Latin word that came through several languages.^[1][6] CADE and DLRM name French only.^[7][8]

The Latin adverb is contracted from grātiīs, the ablative plural of grātia (“favour, grace”).^[9][1][10] The French word was borrowed from it too, first as a noun (1468) and as an adverb from 1495.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1832, as an adverb meaning “free of charge”.^[6] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) lists it, in the transitional alphabet, as ГRATIS, glossed “as a gift, without payment”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Laurian and Massim (1871) explain it as a contraction of Latin gratiis and give phrases such as a lucra gratis “to work for nothing”.^[13] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 already has the adjective, as in spectacol gratis “free show”.^[14]

A figurative sense, “for no reason, without any use”, grew out of “for nothing”: Scriban's example is beating someone gratis.^[9][3] The phrase pe gratis has both senses, “without payment” and, figuratively, “without reason”.^[2][15]

Timeline

• 1832 – gratis “free of charge”, the first record.^[6]
• 1848 – listed by Negulici as ГRATIS.^[12]
• 1870 – adverb and adjective in Costinescu's dictionary.^[14]
• 1871 – in Laurian and Massim's dictionary, with its Latin source.^[13]

Meanings

Adverb

1. free of charge, without payment, for nothing.^[2][1]
2. (figurative, colloquial) For no reason, needlessly; also pe gratis.^[3][2]

Adjective

1. (invariable) free, given or done without payment: intrare gratis “free admission”.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• gratuit
• grație

Usage notes

The phrase pe gratis is common in colloquial speech, but Scriban called it incorrect.^[9][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 447
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1017
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. gratis
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. s.v. gratis
6. ^ 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. grátis
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. gratis
8. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
9. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 572
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ 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, p. s.v. gratis
13. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. s.v. gratis
14. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 498
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 406