infractor

Forms

infractor m (plural infractori)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French infracteur.^[1][2] DEX, MDN, DILF and NODEX add borrowed from Latin infractor as a second source, Scriban gives the Latin word alone, and DA calls it a neologism after French, glossing the Latin word as “breaker”.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} It belongs with infracțiune “offence”: Scriban defines it as one who commits an offence.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has infractorŭ as a breaker of laws, one who violates a law or a treaty, glossed with French infracteur.^[9] MDA2 dates it only from DA (1913).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was broad: DA defines it as one who breaks an undertaking, a rule, a law or a treaty.^[8][9] Later dictionaries narrow it to the legal sense, a person who has committed an offence.^[10][3] NODEX gives delincvent as a synonym.^[6]

Timeline

• 1870 – infractorŭ “breaker of laws” in Costinescu.^[9]
• 1875 – in Antonescu's Romanian–French dictionary.^[11]
• 1913 – in DA, MDA2's first record.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An offender, a criminal: a person who has committed an offence.^[3][2][1]
2. (dated) One who breaks an undertaking, a rule, a law or a treaty.^[8]

Related words

• infracțiune

Usage notes

The feminine is infractoare.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 1136
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 507
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. infractor
5. ^ 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. infractor
6. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. infractor
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 640
8. ^ 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. infractor
9. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 547
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 517
11. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 141