individ

Forms

individ m (plural indivizi)^[1] Old plurals individuri, individe and individue are recorded beside indivizi.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French individu and directly borrowed from Latin individuum.^[4][5][6][1] Tiktin and Scriban point to the Latin adjective indīviduus (“indivisible”).^[2][7]

The French noun was borrowed in 1377 from Latin individuum, which Cicero used to render Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “uncuttable”).^[8] The Latin adjective is formed from in- (“not”) and dīviduus (“divisible”), from dīvidō (“to divide”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1813.^[2] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) glosses it with ins “person”.^[9] DA quotes a document of 1856 that limits the number of monks of a monastery to 20 indivizi.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word named any being considered as a unit of its species, and a person taken singly.^[3] It is also used with contempt for an unknown or suspect person, as in Cine e individul acesta?^[3][10] Its derivative individual follows French individuel.^[3]

Timeline

• 1813 – first record.^[2]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[9]
• 1856 – indivizi “persons” in a document published in the Uricariul.^[3]
• 1870 – individu in Costinescu's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person considered as a unit distinct from others; ins.^[4][1]
2. (pejorative) An unknown, suspect or contemptible man.^[4][5]
3. A plant or animal considered as a distinct unit of its species; a specimen.^[4][5]
4. (mathematics) A statistical unit.^[12]

Related words

• French individu
• Latin individuum

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. individ
3. ^ 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. individ
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 503
5. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1131
6. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. individ
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 636
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. individu
9. ^ 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. individ
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 321
11. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 542
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. individ