lansa

Forms

lansa (third-person singular present lansează, past participle lansat), 1st conjugation^[1] The first record has the old variant lanța: „a lanțat o instrucțiune provizorie” “he issued a provisional instruction”, in Barițiu's history of Transylvania (1889).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French lancer.^[4][3][2][1] The DA called it a fairly widespread Gallicism.^[5] The old variant lanța comes from German lanzieren.^[2] The French verb, first recorded in 1080 as Old French lancier, continues Late Latin lanceāre (“to wield a lance”), a verb made on lancea (“lance”).^[6][5] Its Romance cognates include Italian lanciare, Spanish lanzar and Catalan llançar.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR date the first record to 1889, in George Barițiu's Părți alese din istoria Transilvaniei, where the variant lanța means “to issue” a decree or instruction.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Șăineanu's dictionary gave three senses: to push a young man forward and make him known, to issue a decree, and to send invitations out in various directions.^[7] The CADE of 1931 added the launching of a business by advertising.^[8] The nautical sense, “to put a newly built ship on the water”, which French has had since about 1180, appears in a 1930 newspaper report of a cruiser launched at Brest.^[6][5]

The physical sense of throwing, the oldest one in French, became current in Romanian with bombs, torpedoes and rockets, and later with spacecraft and satellites.^[6][2][9] The reflexive a se lansa means both to leap boldly and to throw oneself into an undertaking.^[2][4] Recent senses include presenting a newly published book at a short ceremony and, in computing, starting a program.^[10][2]

Timeline

• 1080 – French lancier “to throw”.^[6]
• 1889 – lanța “to issue (an instruction)” in Barițiu.^[3][2]
• 1929 – making a person known, issuing a decree and sending invitations in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[7]
• 1930 – a cruiser “launched” at Brest in the newspaper Universul.^[5]
• 1931 – launching a business by advertising, in the CADE.^[8]
• 1953 – a se lansa “to leap” in the newspaper Scînteia.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put into circulation for the first time, to spread or make widely known: a lansa o idee, a lansa un produs.^[4][11]
2. To launch a newly built or repaired ship, to set it afloat for the first time.^[4][2]
3. To issue a decree, an arrest warrant and the like.^[4][3]
4. To present a newly published book to the public at a short ceremony.^[10]
5. To throw or hurl at a target; to fire a missile, torpedo or bomb at a target, or send a rocket or satellite into space.^[4][2]
6. (reflexive) To throw oneself forward, to make a daring leap;^[4][9] (figurative) to engage boldly in an action: S-a lansat într-o discuție lungă.^[4][9]
7. (computing) To start a program.^[2]

Word family

• lansare
• lansator

Related words

• lance
• French lancer

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lansa
3. ^ 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, 1309
4. ^ 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. 576
5. ^ 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. lansa
6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 355
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. lansa
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, 722
10. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. lansa
11. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. lansa