grup

Forms

grup n (plural grupuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French groupe.^[2][3][4][1] French borrowed the noun in 1668 from Italian gruppo, an art term for a set of figures forming a whole, which first meant “knot, bundle” and goes back to a Germanic word for a rounded mass.^[5] Scriban instead derived the Romanian word from the Italian one and its variant grupă from French.^[6]

Aromanian grup (“money bag”) comes directly from Italian.^[2][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of 1848 has grup (in Cyrillic letters) for a gathering in one place of several things that the eye takes in at once, with Latin glomeratio.^[9] MDA2's first record is in Titu Maiorescu's parliamentary speeches, from 1866.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Italian word began as an art term and widened in French to any set of beings or things, and of people gathered together.^[5] In Romanian both the plural grupuri and an older grupe occur, and CADE (1931) gives a feminine grupă beside grup, for a crowd, a band or a heap of objects.^[4][10] Technical senses followed: a set of machine parts working as one, a political faction, a group of companies and the mathematical group.^[3][11] The derivative grupaj “set of articles or news items” appears in the press in 1961.^[12]

Timeline

• 1848 – grup “gathering of things” in Negulici's dictionary.^[9]
• 1866 – grup in Maiorescu's parliamentary speeches.^[4]
• 1893–1895 – Damé gives the plural grupuri.^[13]
• 1931 – CADE records grup with the plurals grupe and grupuri, and the variant grupă.^[10]
• 1961 – the derivative grupaj in the press.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A set of similar objects, animals or plants found together; a set of parts working as a unit: grup electrogen “generating set”, grup sanitar “bathroom, toilet block”.^[3][4]
2. A group of people brought together, for good or for a time, by shared interests or views;^[3][4][1] în grup “together”; in particular, a political faction.^[3][4][1]
3. (economics) An association of companies.^[3]
4. (mathematics) A set with an associative operation, a neutral element and an inverse for each element.^[3][11]

Word family

• grupa
• grupaj

Related words

• grupă
• Aromanian grup
• French groupe

Usage notes

The plural is grupuri;^[4] grupe is old.^[4] Grupuri-grupuri means “in several groups”.^[3] The feminine grupă, which Ciorănescu lists as a variant, is a near-synonym for a group of people.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. grup
3. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 453
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1028
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 580
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 504
8. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 518
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. grup
11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. grup
12. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. grup
13. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. grup