indica

Forms

indica (third-person singular present indică, past participle indicat, third-person subjunctive indice), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French indiquer, with Latin indicō (“to point out, show”) as a second model.^[2][3][1] MDA2 and the DN add Italian indicare, and the DA calls it a neologism after French.^[4][5][6] The Latin verb is derived from index (“pointer, informer”);^[7] French borrowed it in 1510, after the Latin verb had already given Old French aengier (“to increase”) by the popular route.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barițiu's Hungarian–Romanian dictionary of 1869 gives indica beside arăta as an equivalent of Hungarian mutat (“to show”).^[8] MDA2 and the DA cite it first from Ion Ghica's letters to Alecsandri, where future historians would “indicate the true road” to coming generations.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was “to point to, show”, and it soon also meant “to make known, signal”, as in Maiorescu, who wrote that aesthetic rules indicate what is bad.^[6] Șăineanu adds a figurative “to denote, betray”.^[9] A medical sense, “to recommend, prescribe” a treatment or medicine, appears in the dictionaries of the 1950s and is now the second sense.^[10][2]

Timeline

• 1869 – indica as a Romanian equivalent of Hungarian mutat in Barițiu's dictionary.^[8]
• 1875 – Antonescu glosses it with French indiquer, montrer.^[11]
• 1887 – the edition of Ion Ghica's letters that MDA2 cites as its first record.^[4]
• 1955–1957 – the medical sense “to prescribe”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To indicate, point out someone or something; to make known, to signal.^[2][4][1]
2. To recommend or prescribe a treatment or medicine.^[2][12]

Related words

• indiciu
• indicativ
• index

References

1. ^ a b c 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. 502
3. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. indica
4. ^ 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, 1129
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. indica
6. ^ 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. indica
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Barițiu, George (1869), Dictionariu unguresc-romanescu, Brașov, p. 385
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 320
10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 509
11. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 138
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. indica