ilegal

Forms

ilegal m or n (feminine singular ilegală, masculine plural ilegali, feminine/neuter plural ilegale)^[1] In the 19th century it was also spelled illegal: Costinescu's dictionary has illegalŭ, “also written ilegalu”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French illégal, according to DEX, MDA2 and the DILF.^[4][5][6] The neologism dictionaries add Italian illegale and Medieval Latin illēgālis.^[7][8] The Medieval Latin word is formed from Latin in- + lēgālis, from lēx (“law”).^[3][1] Scriban analysed the Romanian word as the negative prefix with legal.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has illegalŭ, “contrary to the law, outside the law”.^[2] The DA quotes Maiorescu on revoking illegal appointments.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The original sense is “contrary to the law”.^[3][2] In the 20th century it also came to mean “clandestine, working in secret against the authorities”, of political activity, and by extension of the material that served it.^[10][4] MDA2 also records a rare noun for a person hunted for such activity.^[5] The derivative ilegalitate is from French illégalité.^[3]

Timeline

• 1870 – illegalŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[2]
• 1893 – ilegal “illegal” in Damé's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. illegal, unlawful: not in accordance with the law, or breaking it.^[4][5][1]
2. Not recognised or allowed by the authorities, acting in secret; by extension clandestine, conspiratorial.^[4]
3. (rare, as a noun) A person hunted for illegal political activity.^[5]

Related words

• legal
• ilegalitate
• nelegal

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 526
3. ^ a b c d e 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. ilegal
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 490
5. ^ 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, 1112
6. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. ilegal
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. ilegal
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 620
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 491
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. ilegal