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jurnal

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word jurnal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1787 More words from the 18th century
Borrowed from
French journal
Ultimate origin
Latin diēs
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin diurnus
Latin diurnālis
French journal
Romanian jurnal
English diurnal
The word's journey
From the same root
Latin diurnum ← diurnus

Forms

jurnal n (plural jurnale)[1] Ianache Văcărescu's history of the Ottoman emperors has the variant giornal: „Această istorie cu giornal și pe larg se scrie de Subhi-efendi” “this history is written as a journal and at length by Subhi Efendi”.[2][3] MDA2 records an old plural jurnaluri beside jurnale.[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French journal.[4][5][6][1] MDA2 adds German Journal as a second model, and the DLR compares the German and Russian words.[3][2]

French “journal” was first an adjective, “daily” (around 1119).[7] It continues Old French journal, from Latin diurnālis (“of the day”), from diurnus (“daily”), from diēs (“day”).[1] The DHLF also considers a formation on Old French jorn (“day”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1787.[5] MDA2's first record is Ianache Văcărescu's history of the Ottoman emperors, where giornal means a day-by-day account.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century jurnal became the usual word for a newspaper, beside gazetă and foaie: C. Negruzzi has a story printed to fill the columns of a jurnal.[2] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has the newspaper, the register of court or administrative business, the merchant's daybook and the jurnal de călătorie “travel diary”, and refers the user to diar.[8] A special legal sense, the written decision of a court or an authority, appears in the civil code and in Maiorescu's speeches.[2]

Fashion magazines were jurnale de modă, and a man dressed după ultimul jurnal was in the latest fashion.[9][4] In the 20th century the word also named the newsreel shown before a film and the radio or television news bulletin.[4][6] In criminal slang jurnal means a police record.[10]

Timeline

  • 1787 – the first record.[5]
  • 1870 – newspaper, register, daybook and jurnal de călătorie in Costinescu.[8]
  • 1886 – Barcianu refers jurnal to diuar “newspaper”.[11]
  • 1931 – newspaper, diary and commercial register in the CADE.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A daily newspaper; ziar, gazetă.[4]
  2. (usually jurnal de modă) A fashion magazine with drawings and patterns of clothes.[4][3]
  3. A diary: daily notes of someone's life; daily notes of scientific observations;[4][1] jurnal de călătorie “travel diary”, jurnal de bord “logbook”.[4][1]
  4. (dated) A newsreel or news bulletin on radio or television.[4]
  5. (accounting) A journal: a register in which money transactions are entered in order of date.[4][3]
  6. (criminal slang) A police record.[10]
  • jurnalist
  • diurn
  • zi

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. jurnal
  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, 1295
  4. ^ 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. 570
  5. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. jurnal
  6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. jurnal
  7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 7
  9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 711
  10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. jurnal
  11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 335
  12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. jurnal

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

“Jurnal.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/jurnal. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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