inspirație

Forms

inspirație f (plural inspirații)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French inspiration, with Late Latin īnspīrātiō as a second source;^[2][3][4][1] Romanian dictionaries name both.^[2][3][4][1] Negulici, who recorded the word in 1848, gave only the Latin form.^[5] The French word itself comes from the same Late Latin noun.^[1] The Latin noun was formed on īnspīrō (“to breathe into”), from in- and spīrō (“to breathe”).^[1][6] Wiktionary also notes that the Romanian word can be analysed as the verb inspira with the suffix -ție.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Negulici's dictionary of 1848, which defines inspirație as a breathing into, a counsel, and a sudden stirring of the soul that gives it great thoughts.^[5] MDA2 dates its first record to Ion Ghica's letters to Alecsandri, printed in 1887, where a princess is the only person with artistic inspirations.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In 1848 the word meant spiritual or creative inspiration.^[5] By 1870 Costinescu also gave the physiological sense, the drawing of air into the lungs, beside the old sense of counsel and sudden feeling, and in poetry enthusiasm; he listed the variants inspirațiune and inspirare with it.^[8] Modern dictionaries put the physiological sense first and the creative force and the sudden idea after it, as figurative senses.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1848 – inspirație “sudden stirring of the soul, counsel” in Negulici's dictionary.^[5]
• 1870 – the sense “drawing of air into the lungs”, with the variant inspirațiune.^[8]
• 1887 – inspirații artistice “artistic inspirations” in Ion Ghica's letters.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. inhalation: the drawing of air into the lungs, the first phase of breathing.^[3][2]
2. (figurative) Creative force or enthusiasm, the state of heightened tension in which artistic or intellectual work is born: Poetul aștepta inspirația noaptea.^[3][9][1]
3. (figurative) A sudden idea or solution that comes to mind, a brainwave: A fost o inspirație să luăm umbrela.^[3][2][1]

Related words

• inspira
• respirație

Usage notes

The older variant inspirațiune is still listed by DEX 2009 and MDA2 but is no longer used.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1143
3. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 511
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. inspirație
5. ^ a b c d 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. inspirație
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. inspīrō
7. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 525
8. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 551
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. inspirație