indiciu

Forms

indiciu n (plural indicii)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin indicium (“disclosure, sign”), with senses after borrowed from French indice.^[2][3][1] The dictionaries weigh the two sources differently: DA and DN give only the Latin word, CADE only the French, and MDA2 and NODEX both.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The Latin word is formed on index (“indicator”), from indicō (“to point out, show”).^[9][1] The French word was itself borrowed from the same Latin word.^[1]

The word is a doublet of index and indice.^[1] Graur lists it among the Romanian descendants of Latin dīcō (“to say”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of 1848 lists indiciu with the Latin indicium as an apparent and probable sign of a thing, a character, an act or a crime.^[11] MDA2's first record is later, Hamangiu's Codul civil of 1897, on signs of violent death.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word belonged to the law: Costinescu (1870) explains it as the signs that point to a crime, such as a change of face, an attempt to flee or blood on the clothes, and adds a nautical use for the signs of approaching land.^[12] Laurian and Massim define it as the beginning of a proof, an incomplete proof or a presumption.^[13] Maiorescu and others then used it for any sign from which a conclusion can be drawn.^[4] DA also records a mathematical sense, the index of a radical, now covered by indice.^[4] The legal sense survives as a separate sense in the modern dictionaries.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, the first record.^[11]
• 1862 – indiciu “sign, indication”, plural -uri, in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[14]
• 1870 – the legal and nautical senses in Costinescu's dictionary.^[12]
• 1897 – in Hamangiu's Codul civil, MDA2's first record.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sign from which the existence of something can be inferred; a clue.^[2][7][1]
2. A feature, mark or concrete proof by which a thing, a being or a phenomenon can be recognized.^[2][7]
3. (law) A fact or circumstance which, taken together with others, can serve as evidence in a trial.^[2][7]

Related words

• indice
• index
• indica

Usage notes

The plural is indicii; 19th-century dictionaries have indiciuri.^[2][14][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. indiciu
4. ^ 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. indiciu
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. indiciu
6. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. indiciu
7. ^ 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, 1129
8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. indiciu
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 35
11. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. indiciu
12. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 541
13. ^ Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. s.v. indiciu
14. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 342