infirmerie

Forms

infirmerie f (plural infirmerii)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French infirmerie, a neologism of the 19th century.^[2][3][4][1] The DA calls it a neologism after French.^[5] Scriban explains the French noun as a derivative of infirmier (“male nurse”).^[6] MDA2 records an old variant with ⟨fer⟩ for ⟨fir⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 already lists it, glossing it with “hospital”, bolniță, a house for the care of the sick and infirm.^[7] MDA2 and the DA date their first record to a text of 1873 printed in the Uricariul, which says that every barracks has its own sickroom.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept one sense, the room or building where the sick of a boarding school, a barracks or a prison are examined and treated.^[2][3] Barcianu's dictionary of 1886 gives German equivalents for a sickroom, a ward and a military hospital.^[8] The DA also quotes a figurative use by Maiorescu, “this infirmary of Romanian literature”.^[5]

Timeline

• 1870 – listed in Costinescu's dictionary.^[7]
• 1873 – a text printed in the Uricariul says that every barracks has its own infirmerie.^[5][3]
• 1886 – in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[8]
• 1931 – CADE defines it as the room for the sick of a boarding school or a barracks.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An infirmary, a sickroom: a room or small building of a barracks, a boarding school, a prison and the like, where the sick are examined and cared for.^{[2][3][10][1]}

Related words

• infirm
• infirmier
• French infirmerie

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 506
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, 1136
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. infirmerie
5. ^ 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. infirmerie
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 640
7. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 546
8. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 279
9. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. infirmerie
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 516