junior

Forms

junior m (feminine singular junioară, masculine plural juniori, feminine/neuter plural junioare)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French junior and directly borrowed from Latin iūnior (“younger”): DEX, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries name both.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The DA, under the older spelling iunior, took the word from Latin and added that it came in part through German Junior.^[6] The Latin word is the comparative of iuvenis (“young”).^[7][8]

The French word itself is a loan from English, which had taken it from Latin; the custom of adding it after a family name to mark the younger of two people of the same name goes back to Medieval Latin and then English.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to 1951, in the newspaper Scînteia, in the sporting sense.^[2] The DA, published earlier, already records iunior after a family name, to tell a son from his father.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Two senses came in with the word: the one used after a person's name, opposed to senior, and the sporting one for young athletes, whose age limits vary from one sport to another.^[1][9] The DLRLC of 1955–1957 lists the sporting sense first, and DEX treats it as both noun and adjective.^[9][1] In slang a junior is a young, inexperienced thief.^[10]

Timeline

• 1951 – junior “a young athlete” in the newspaper Scînteia.^[2]
• 1955–1957 – the DLRLC records both senses.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (sports) A young athlete, aged roughly 13 to 19, the limits varying from sport to sport.^[1][2]
2. Placed after a person's name, in contrast to senior: the son, as distinct from his father.^[1][11]
3. (slang) A young, inexperienced thief.^[10]

Adjective

1. (sports) Of the age group of young athletes: echipa junioară de handbal.^[1][2]

Related words

• senior
• june
• Latin iuvenis

Usage notes

It is pronounced with ⟨i⟩ and ⟨o⟩ in separate syllables (ju-ni-or); after a name the stress may also fall on the first syllable, júnior.^[1][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 569
2. ^ 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, 1293
3. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. junior
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. junior
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ 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. iunior
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 709
10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. junior
11. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. junior