intim

Forms

intim m or n (feminine singular intimă, masculine plural intimi, feminine/neuter plural intime)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French intime, with intimus (“innermost”) as a second model: DEX, MDA2 and Marcu and Maneca name both, Wiktionary and MDN the French word alone, and DA and Scriban the Latin word.^{[2][3][4][1][5][6][7]}

French borrowed it in 1376–1377 from the Latin word.^[8] The Latin adjective serves as the superlative of interior (“inner”) and is formed from in- with the suffix -timus.^[9][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is in Constantin Negruzzi's writings, in their edition of 1872.^[3] Antonescu's Romanian–French dictionary of 1875 has intimu.^[10]

Semantic evolution

DA's first sense is “innermost, essential”, as in Maiorescu's pătrunderea intimă “thorough penetration” of the old language and natura intimă a lucrurilor “the inner nature of things”.^[6] A convingere intimă is a conviction held deep within.^[6][11] Of people, it means bound by close friendship, and it is used as a noun for a close friend;^[12][13] Barcianu glosses amic intim with German “trusted friend” in 1886.^[12][13] It also refers to private and family life and to what happens in a small circle.^[2] MDN adds the sense “sexual, erotic”.^[5]

Timeline

• 1872 – in the edition of Negruzzi's writings, the first record.^[3]
• 1875 – intimu in Antonescu's dictionary.^[10]
• 1886 – amic intim “close friend” in Barcianu.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Forming the essential, inner part of something; lăuntric;^[2][3] (figurative) close: o legătură intimă între cele două probleme “a close link between the two problems”.^[2][3]
2. Of people, bound by close friendship; as a noun, a close friend; of relations, familiar, warm.^[2][12]
3. Of a person's private or family life; personal, secret; taking place in a small circle: o petrecere intimă “a small private party”.^[2][14]
4. Sexual, erotic.^[5]

Related words

• interior
• intimitate

Usage notes

The stress is usually on the first syllable, íntim, but intím is also accepted.^[2][3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 518
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, 1153
4. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. intim
5. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. intim
6. ^ 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. intim
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 652
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 149
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 336
12. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 536
13. ^ a b c Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 284
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. intim