introduce

Forms

introduce (third-person singular present introduce, past participle introdus, third-person subjunctive introducă) 3rd conjugation^[1] An older variant with în- occurs in Șincai's chronicle and in the Uricariul: „S-au întrodus... și abuzuri” “abuses too were brought in”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin intrōdūcō (“to lead or bring in”).^[1][3][4] The dictionaries differ on the role of French: DEX 2009 and NODEX give Latin and compare French introduire, Marcu's dictionary takes the Latin word on the model of the French one, and the DA calls it a neologism after French.^[4][5][6][2] The Latin verb is formed from intrō- (“inside”) and dūcō (“to lead”).^[1][7][8] The French verb is a remaking after Latin (1292) of the older Old French entreduire, the form the Latin word had taken by regular sound change.^[9]

The second element is the same Latin verb that Romanian inherited as duce, and the new verb is conjugated like it.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1794, with the sense “to bring in, introduce”.^[3] MDA2's first record is in Simeon Marcovici's translation of Young's Nights (1835), where a pupil is brought into the National School of Saint Sava: „Introducându-o în Școala Națională de la Sfântul Sava”.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

From the physical sense “to make something or someone go in, insert” the verb came to mean “to include, add” (a clause in a contract, a passage in a text), “to present a person, have them admitted” to someone or into an organisation, “to initiate” someone in a field, and “to put into practice, establish” a custom or a practice.^[4][10][11] The reflexive a se introduce means “to get in, often by force or secretly”, and of customs “to be adopted”.^[4][12][3]

Negulici's dictionary of 1848 still lists the verb among the neologisms, glossed with native a face să intre, a duce înăuntru “to make enter, to lead inside”.^[13]

Timeline

• 1794 – the first record Tiktin gives.^[3]
• 1835 – introducându-o “bringing her in” in Marcovici's translation of Young.^[10][2]
• 1848 – listed among the neologisms in Negulici's dictionary.^[13]
• 1875 – glossed with French introduire in Antonescu's dictionary.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make someone or something go into a place or thing; to insert, put in.^[4][10]
2. To include or add, for example a clause in a contract or a detail in a text.^[4][5]
3. (reflexive) To get in somewhere, by force or secretly.^[4][10]
4. To introduce a person to someone, or have them admitted into an organisation or association.^[4][10]
5. To initiate someone in a field of activity.^[4][5]
6. To put into practice; to establish a custom, a method or a practice.^[4][10]

Word family

• introducere

Related words

• duce
• Latin intrōdūcō
• French introduire

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. introduce
3. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. introduce
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 519
5. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1156
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
13. ^ 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
14. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 151