identitate

Forms

identitate f (plural identități)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French identité and Latin identitās, a learned word of the 19th century;^[2][3][4][1] DEX, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries name both sources.^[2][3][4][1] Tiktin gives the same two models.^[5] Scriban took it from the Medieval Latin form alone.^[6] Pontbriant in 1862 set Italian identità beside it.^[7]

The Latin noun is formed on idem (“the same”) with the suffix -tās, as a calque of Ancient Greek ταὐτότης (tautótēs, “sameness”).^[1] The French word is a learned borrowing from the Latin one.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1818, in a text by Leon Asachi, with the sense “identity, sameness”.^[5] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) defines it as the quality of what is identical, the likeness of things that fall under one idea or nature.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is philosophical and general: being the same as something, or perfect likeness.^[8][2] Costinescu (1870) already records the legal use, the certainty that a person is who he is said to be.^[9] Șăineanu and the CADE mention the certificat or act de identitate, the paper that proves it.^[10][11] The mathematical sense, an equality true for every value of its variables, is recorded by the CADE and Scriban.^[11][6]

Timeline

• 1818 – first record, in a text by Leon Asachi.^[5]
• 1848 – defined in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]
• 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary, glossed with French identité and ressemblance.^[7]
• 1867 – in Titu Maiorescu's Critice, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 1870 – Costinescu adds the identity of a person.^[9]
• 1931 – act de identitate “identity document” in the CADE.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. identity: being identical with oneself;^[2][3] principiul identității, the law of identity in logic.^[2][3]
2. Perfect likeness, similarity.^[2]
3. The set of personal data by which a person is identified: Polițistul i-a cerut actul de identitate.^[2][4]
4. (mathematics) An equality that holds for every value of its variables.^[2]

Related words

• identic
• identifica
• French identité
• Latin identitās

Usage notes

MDA2 records a popular variant indentitate.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 486
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1104
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. identitate
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. identitate
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 615
7. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 309
8. ^ a b c 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. identitate
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 522
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 302
11. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. identitate