imunitate

Forms

imunitate f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French immunité and Latin immūnitās, the sources DEX and DILF name, while MDA2 adds Italian immunità, and Tiktin and Scriban give only the Latin.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin noun meant “exemption, dispensation” and is derived from immūnis (“exempt from every charge or tax”), formed of the privative in- and mūnus (“charge, duty”).^[7] French borrowed it in the 13th or 14th century in the same sense.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to 1776, a document published in the Uricariul.^[5][4] The dictionaries of the 19th century know only the sense “exemption from taxes and duties”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is the old legal and fiscal one, an exemption from taxes, dues or other charges;^[8][4] Costinescu spells it immunitate in 1870.^[8][4] By 1931 CADE also has the medical sense, protection against a microbial disease, and Scriban in 1939 gives both.^[10][6] French had taken the word into biology in the 19th century and into constitutional and international law (immunité parlementaire, diplomatique) in 1890.^[7] In Romanian imunitate parlamentară and imunitate diplomatică are recorded in the dictionaries of the 1950s.^[11]

Timeline

• 1776 – first record, a document in the Uricariul.^[5][4]
• 1870 – immunitate “exemption from taxes” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[8]
• 1931 – CADE records the medical sense.^[10]
• 1955–1957 – imunitate parlamentară and imunitate diplomatică in the DLRLC.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) The body's resistance to pathogenic agents or their toxins: Vitaminele întăresc imunitatea.^[2][1]
2. (history) In medieval society, the privilege granted by the monarch to a lord to judge, levy taxes and raise troops on his estates.^[2][4]
3. The rights or privileges of certain categories of persons: imunitate parlamentară (members of parliament cannot be prosecuted without their chamber's consent), imunitate diplomatică.^[2][12]
4. (figurative) The state of being untouched by something.^[4]

Related words

• imun

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 496
3. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1122
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. imunitate
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 627
7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 529
9. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 276
10. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. imunitate
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 502
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. imunitate