Etymologically

integritate

Etymology and origin of the Romanian word integritate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1848 Negulici's dictionary More words from the 19th century
Borrowed from
French intégrité
Ultimate origin
Latin integer

Forms

integritate f (uncountable)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French intégrité.[2][3][4][1] The DA, Marcu and Maneca and Marcu name Latin integritās beside the French word, and Scriban gives the Latin alone.[5][6][7][8] The Latin noun is formed on integer (“whole, intact”) with the suffix -tās, and French borrowed it from Latin.[1] The DA treats it with integru “upright, whole”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) lists integritate with Latin integritas and explains it as probity, incorruptible virtue.[9] MDA2 cites it first from a text of before 1866 in the Uricariul, on the principle of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The dictionaries of the 1860s and 1870s give both senses, wholeness and moral probity: Pontbriant glosses it French intégrité, probité, honnêteté, and Costinescu “the state of a whole thing” and “probity, virtue”.[10][11] The political sense of a state's territory, integritate teritorială, is now a term of international law.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 1848 – listed by Negulici as “probity”.[9]
  • 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary.[10]
  • before 1866 – “the integrity of the Ottoman Empire” in a text in the Uricariul.[3][5]
  • 1870 – Costinescu gives the senses “wholeness” and “probity”.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The quality of being upright: honesty, probity, incorruptibility.[2][3]
  2. The state of being or remaining whole and intact.[2][12]
  3. integritate teritorială “territorial integrity”, the principle of international law by which every state exercises full sovereignty over its territory.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 513
  3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1146
  4. ^ 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. integritate
  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. integru
  6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. integritate
  7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. integritate
  8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 648
  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
  10. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 364
  11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 553
  12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 528

Related etymologies

  • cap · also from French
  • dura · also from French
  • pur · also from French
  • pană · also from French
  • pat · also from French
  • masă · also from French
  • lac · also from French
  • primar · also from French
Cite this entry

“Integritate.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/integritate. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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