indice

Forms

indice m (plural indici)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian indice, with French indice and learned Latin index (“pointer, indicator; list”) as further sources.^[2][3][4][1] Marcu and Maneca put Latin first and cite Italian and French for comparison.^[5] The DA treats the word as a variant of index made after the Italian word.^[6] Gabinschi counts it, with its doublet, as a Latin loan through Italian, with French taking part.^[7]

The Latin noun is an agent noun derived from indicō (“to point out, show”).^[8] The Italian word is a Latin loan recorded from the 14th century.^[9] The French word comes instead from indicium (“sign, disclosure”), itself derived from the Latin noun.^[10] Wiktionary calls it a doublet of that word and of indiciu.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record found is in Barițiu's Hungarian–Romanian dictionary of 1869, where indice renders the Hungarian words for a book's table of contents or register.^[11] Laurian and Massim's dictionary gives it the senses “list, catalogue”, “index finger” and a pointer, and has the phrase carte pusă la indice “a book put on the Index”.^[12] MDA2's first record is much later, a school algebra book of 1962.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Until the early 20th century the word meant a book's index or table of contents, and the Index of forbidden books: Ion Ghica wrote that the Turks „erau puși la indice” “were put on the Index” as barbarians.^[6][13] Scriban treated it as a rarer though more correct form of index.^[14] The mathematical sense, a number or letter written beside a symbol, and the economic and technical senses, a figure that measures a quantity or a property, are 20th-century; for them the word is masculine, with the plural indici.^[2][3] In the sense “index of a book” it is neuter, with the plural indice.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1869 – indice “table of contents, register” in Barițiu's dictionary, the earliest record found.^[11]
• 1871–1876 – in Laurian and Massim's dictionary, with carte pusă la indice.^[12]
• 1887 – puși la indice in Ion Ghica's letters.^[6][3]
• 1893 – in Damé's dictionary, glossed French indice, index.^[15]
• 1962 – the mathematical sense in an algebra textbook, MDA2's first record.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A number, letter or symbol written beside another number or letter, to its right or left and higher or lower, that fixes its value or meaning; a subscript or index.^[2][16]
2. A figure, often a number or formula, that shows the state or change of a phenomenon; a quantity characterizing a property of a substance or system: indice de refracție “refractive index”.^[2][4]
3. A conventional sign marking a subject in a classification of publications.^[2]
4. The moving needle of an instrument that shows the measured value on a scale.^[2][17]
5. (neuter) The index of a book: a list of names, terms or subjects with their pages.^[2][3]

Related words

• index
• indiciu
• indica

References

1. ^ a b c 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. 502
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, 1129
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. indice
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. indice
6. ^ a b c d 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. index
7. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 114
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Barițiu, George (1869), Dictionariu unguresc-romanescu, Brașov, p. 385
12. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. s.v. indice
13. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. indice
14. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 634
15. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. indice
16. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 509
17. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. indice