interveni

Forms

interveni (first-person singular present intervin, third-person singular present intervine, past participle intervenit) 4th conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French intervenir, and directly borrowed from Latin interveniō (“to come between”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} DN adds Italian intervenire, the CADE names French alone, and the DA calls it a neologism after Latin.^[6][7][8] It is conjugated like veni.^[9][10] The Latin verb is formed inter- (“between”) and veniō (“to come”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is a document of 1776 printed in the Uricariul.^[3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848, which gives the infinitive as intervenire, explains it as “to step into a quarrel to make peace; to come between; to mediate”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is “to come between, step in”; from it come “to take the floor”, “to mediate”, and “to make representations on someone's behalf”, which can be pejorative, pressing an influential person for a favour.^[2][6] The DA quotes Maiorescu on a duty to intervene even by force, and records a military sense, to go into action in support of someone.^[8][3] Of events it means “to occur, happen unexpectedly”, close to surveni;^[2][12] Pontbriant already gives this beside “to intervene” in 1862.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 1776 – first record, in a document of the Uricariul.^[3]
• 1848 – intervenire “to mediate, come between” in Negulici.^[9]
• 1862 – “to intervene; to happen” in Pontbriant.^[12]
• 1931 – in the CADE, with the present forms intervin and interviu.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To intervene, come between, take part in something; specifically, to take the floor or join a conversation.^[2][3][1]
2. To mediate or make representations on someone's behalf;^[2][4] (pejorative) to pull strings.^[2][4]
3. To go into action to help someone.^[3]
4. (of events) To occur unexpectedly, arise: a intervenit o complicație “a complication arose”.^[2]

Related words

• intervenție
• veni
• surveni

Usage notes

Besides the present intervin, DN and the CADE also record interviu.^[6][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 517
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, 1152
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. interveni
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. interveni
6. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. interveni
7. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. interveni
8. ^ a b 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. interveni
9. ^ a b c 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. interveni
10. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. interveni
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 368