licență

Forms

licență f (plural licențe)^[1] An older form was licenție: Vasici writes of someone gone „cu licenție pe la Sibiu și Orăștie” “on leave to Sibiu and Orăștie”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French licence, also borrowed from Latin licentia (“freedom, permission”);^[4][3][2][1] MDA2 and the DLR add German Lizenz.^[4][3][2][1] The DA treats it as a neologism after French and derives one of its Transylvanian uses from German.^[5] The Latin noun is formed from licēns (“free, unrestrained”), the present participle of liceō (“to be allowed”).^[6][1] French took the Latin word about 1170.^[7] German took it at the end of the 15th century, as a word of officials and merchants.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Iordache Golescu's Condica limbii rumânești, a manuscript dictionary of about 1832, in the sense “permission”.^[3][2] Barițiu used it the same way: „cu a cui licență treceți prin oraș?” “with whose permission are you passing through the town?”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

By 1848 Negulici gave three senses that are still current: too much freedom against decency, licență poetică “poetic licence”, and a university degree that gives the right to teach.^[10] In the second half of the century the permit for a trade spread, above all the licence to sell spirits, which Maiorescu and Caragiale mention.^[2] In the old system of higher education it was the degree between the baccalaureate and the doctorate.^[11] Patent law later added the contract that lets another party use an invention.^[4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – in Iordache Golescu's dictionary, “permission”, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1848 – Negulici: excessive freedom, poetic licence, a university degree.^[10]
• 1884–1885 – a regional folk dance called licență in the answers to Hasdeu's questionnaire.^[3]
• 1931 – CADE lists the trade permit, excessive freedom, poetic licence and the degree.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The degree obtained on graduating from higher education; the examination for it; the diploma that confers it.^[4]
2. A licence or permit issued by the authorities for a particular activity, such as a trade or imports and exports.^[4][3]
3. A contract by which the holder of a patent lets another party use the invention.^[4][3]
4. Behaviour that goes beyond the bounds of decency; lack of respect for the usual forms.^[4]
5. Licență poetică: poetic licence, a slight departure from the rules of grammar for the sake of rhyme, metre or style.^[4]
6. (rare, dated) Permission to do something.^[3][13]

Related words

• Latin licentia

Usage notes

MDA2 has a separate regional licență, a folk dance and its tune, of unknown origin, recorded in 1884–1885; the DA lists the dance as an extended sense of this word.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. licență
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1361
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. 589
5. ^ 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. licență
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. licentia
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. licence
8. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
9. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 581
10. ^ 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, p. s.v. licență
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 363
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. licență
13. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. licență