laser

Forms

laser n (plural lasere)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English laser and French laser, as DEX, MDA2, DN, MDN and the DLR say.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} The English word is an acronym of “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”.^[4][7] It was coined in 1960, the year the first laser was built in the United States, on the model of maser, with light in place of microwave;^[7] French took it in 1962.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dimitrescu quotes it from a technical magazine of January 1963, describing a crystal whose particles give off strong pulses of light: such a light generator “has received the name of laser”.^[8] MDA2 and the DLR date it from Scînteia in 1964, on the metalworking uses of the beam.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its technical sense, a device that produces an intense, narrow and coherent beam of light.^[2][4] In the 1970s the press used it for new devices built with lasers, such as a telescope and a telephone.^[8] DN also records a masculine plural laseri beside the neuter lasere.^[4]

Timeline

• 1960 – the English word is coined, with the first laser.^[7]
• 1962 – first French record.^[7]
• 1963 – first Romanian record, in a technical magazine.^[8]
• 1964 – in Scînteia.^[3][6]
• 1975 – telescop cu laser in Scînteia.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A laser: a device that amplifies or generates light by the stimulated emission of atoms, giving an intense, narrow and coherent beam that can concentrate a great deal of energy.^[2][3][4][1]

Usage notes

The plural is lasere;^[2][4] DN also has a masculine plural laseri.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 578
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1313
4. ^ a b c d e f g Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. laser
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. laser
6. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. laser
7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. laser