gravid

Forms

gravid m or n (feminine singular gravidă, masculine plural gravizi, feminine/neuter plural gravide)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin gravida (“pregnant woman”) and French gravide according to DEX and MDA2, a learned borrowing;^[2][3][4] the DA gives only the Latin word.^[5] Marcu and Maneca name Italian gravida first,^[6] and Wiktionary adds gravido beside the French and Latin words.^[1] The Latin word is the feminine of gravidus (“heavy with young, pregnant”), formed on gravis (“heavy”).^[7][1] French took it from Latin in 1863,^[8] and the Italian word is recorded from the 13th century.^[9]

Graur groups it with the other Romanian words of the same Latin family: the neologism grav and the inherited greu.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record of gravidă is from a work by Klopștock, cited from the manuscript of the DA, and it gives no date.^[3] The DA describes it as a medical term for a woman who is expecting a child.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word was used mainly in the feminine, as an adjective and as a noun “pregnant woman”, beside the native însărcinată and the colloquial borțoasă.^[2][5] In the 1931 dictionary CADE it is still marked as a recent word.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of a woman) pregnant, carrying a child in the womb.^[2][1]

Noun

1. gravidă: a pregnant woman.^[2][3]

Related words

• graviditate
• grav
• greu
• însărcinat

Usage notes

The feminine gravidă is the usual form;^[1] DEX lists the masculine gravid but notes that it does not seem justified.^[2] The noun graviditate “pregnancy” belongs to the same Latin family.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 448
3. ^ a b c 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. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. gravid
5. ^ a b c d 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. gravidă
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. gravidă
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. s.v. gravidă
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. gravidă