inconștient

Forms

inconștient m or n (feminine singular inconștientă, masculine plural inconștienți, feminine/neuter plural inconștiente); as a noun, neuter.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French inconscient, adapted after conștient.^[1][2][3][4] NODEX names Latin inconsciens beside the French word, and the DA calls it a neologism after French.^[5][6] The French adjective is made of the prefix in- and conscient.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Laurian and Massim's dictionary of 1871, which defined it as having no awareness of oneself and, figuratively, as lacking a conscience, wicked.^[7][6] The same dictionary has the first record of conștient.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Maiorescu used it in philosophical prose, beside anteconștient (first recorded in 1888): „formările ante-conștiente și inconștiente” “the pre-conscious and unconscious formations”.^[6][2] The neuter noun came from philosophy and psychology: the DA quotes “the philosophy of the unconscious”, DEX defines the unconscious of Freud's psychoanalysis and the single principle of Eduard von Hartmann's philosophy, of which consciousness is only one manifestation.^[6][1] DELR dates the full range of senses, adjective and noun, from Arghezi in 1930.^[2]

The French form survived for a time as inconscient, which the CADE and Scriban still list.^[8][9] In Transylvania an adjective inconștiu was used, after Italian inconscio.^[6][7] The noun inconștiență is recorded from 1887, as inconsciență, a separate borrowing of French inconscience.^[2]

Timeline

• 1871 – in Laurian and Massim's dictionary, the first record.^[7][6]
• 1887 – the noun inconștiență, as inconsciență.^[2]
• 1888 – anteconștient in Maiorescu.^[2]
• 1930 – the adjective and the neuter noun in Arghezi, DELR's first record.^[2]
• 1931 – the CADE lists inconștient and inconscient side by side.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not conscious; having lost consciousness, as in a pathological state: Rănitul a rămas inconștient o oră. “The injured man stayed unconscious for an hour.”^[1][7]
2. (often adverbial) Not aware of what one is doing; thoughtless, reckless.^[1][5]
3. Of mental processes and acts: escaping consciousness; involuntary, automatic, instinctive.^[1][7]

Noun

1. (psychology) The unconscious: in Freud, the repressed instincts with the wishes, ideas and images bound to them, not directly open to consciousness.^[1]
2. (philosophy) In Eduard von Hartmann, the single principle of which consciousness is only one manifestation.^[1]

Related words

• conștient
• inconștiență
• subconștient
• conștiință

References

1. ^ 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. 500
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. conștiință
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 Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. inconștient
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. inconștient
7. ^ 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, 1126
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. inconștient
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 632