guvern

Forms

guvern n (plural guverne)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Romanian guverna (“to govern”), as DEX, MDA2, Tiktin and Wiktionary explain it.^[2][3][4][1] The DLRM adds the model of Italian governo, and the DN compares the Italian noun and French gouvernement.^[5][6] Scriban and CADE take it instead from the French and Italian nouns, and DA calls it a word of Latin origin, from Latin gubernō (“to govern”).^[7][8][9] The Romanian verb is from French gouverner and the Latin verb.^[10][1] The Italian noun is from governare or from gubernum (“helm”).^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1760 and notes the old forms gub- and gubernium.^[4] MDA2's first record is a collection of Văcărescu's poems printed in 1848.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The 19th-century dictionaries give two senses: the political form of government of a state, as guvern monarhic, and the people who govern it, as guvern liberal.^[9][12][8] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 defines it as the constitution of a state and quotes Madame de Staël on governments.^[13] Damé's examples of 1893 are about being in government and falling from power.^[14] DA notes that guvernământ was the more usual word for the first sense; today the word names the executive organ of the state, the council of ministers.^[2][3] The press of the 2000s has guvern din umbră “shadow cabinet”, after English shadow government.^[15]

Timeline

• 1760 – first record, with the old forms gub- and gubernium.^[4]
• 1805 – the verb guverna.^[10]
• 1848 – in Văcărescu's poems and in Negulici's dictionary.^[3][13]
• 2005 – guvern din umbră “shadow cabinet”.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. government: the central organ of the state that holds executive power; the cabinet, the council of ministers.^[2][3]
2. (dated) The form of government of a state.^[9][8]

Related words

• guverna
• guvernământ
• guvernator

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 455
3. ^ 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, 1034
4. ^ 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. guvern
5. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 583
8. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
9. ^ a b c 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. guvern
10. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. guverna
11. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 286
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. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État
15. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)