lichid

Forms

lichid m or n (feminine singular lichidă, masculine plural lichizi, feminine/neuter plural lichide)^[1] An early form licfida occurs in a manuscript of the first half of the 18th century: „La gura țevii pune moscos... au storace licfida” “at the mouth of the pipe put musk ... or liquid storax”.^[2] In the 19th century the word also took forms closer to the Latin, licvid and licuid: „Sub forma licvidă cuprinde mai mult de 2/3 din fața pământului” “in liquid form it covers more than two thirds of the face of the earth” (Fătu).^[2][3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 has both likid and likuid as headwords.^[4] In the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet the word was written ликид.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin liquidus (“fluid, clear”), with French liquide as a second source: DLR, Tiktin, DEX and the neologism dictionaries name both.^{[2][5][6][7][8]} MDA2 adds Italian liquido,^[3] while DER and Wiktionary give only the French word.^[9][1] The 18th-century form licfida comes from a manuscript that Gheorghe Chivu studied for its Italian words.^[2]

The Latin adjective is formed from liqueō (“to be liquid, to be clear”) with the suffix -idus.^[1][10] French borrowed it from Latin around 1265.^[11] Graur places it in the same Latin family as licoare and lichior.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is licfida in a manuscript of the first half of the 18th century, in a recipe that names liquid storax among the ingredients.^[2] The adjective lichid “flowing” appears in 1832, in the periodical Albina românească and in Iordache Golescu's dictionary.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is physical: a substance that flows under its own weight and takes the shape of its vessel, as against solid and gaseous.^[2][6] As a noun, un lichid is a liquid substance, and in the plural also drinks.^[3][13] In the 19th century the old senses “clear, pure” also occur figuratively.^[3]

Grammar took over the Latin term for the consonants l and r (Scriban adds m and n).^[13][14] Finance uses the word for money that is available at once and for assets free of debt.^[6][14] In French this financial sense was taken from Italian liquido.^[11] Slang uses lichid for strong drink,^[15] and in Oltenia it is the bought solution used to curdle milk.^[16]

Timeline

• 1700–1750 – licfida “liquid” of storax, in a manuscript with Italian words.^[2]
• 1832 – lichid in Albina românească and in Iordache Golescu's dictionary.^[5][3]
• 1848 – likid, likuid in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[4]
• 1931 – CADE lists the noun “liquid substance” and the feminine noun lichidă “liquid consonant”.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. liquid, fluid: in a state between gas and solid, having no fixed shape of its own and taking the shape of its container.^[6][3]
2. (of money) Available at any time;^[6][18] (of claims and securities) that can be turned into cash at once: bani lichizi “ready money”.^[6][18]
3. (phonetics) In consoană lichidă “liquid consonant”, a name for the lateral and trill consonants.^[6][7]

Noun

1. A liquid substance or body.^[6][3]
2. (in the plural) Drinks, liquid food.^[3]
3. (slang) Strong liquor.^[15]

Word family

• lichida
• lichidator
• licheface

Related words

• licoare
• lichior
• Latin liquidus

Usage notes

As a feminine noun, lichidă is a liquid consonant.^[3][17] The older plural lichiduri was used for the noun in the senses “liquid substance” and “liquid body”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. lichid
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 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
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. lichid
6. ^ 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. 590
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
9. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. lichid
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
13. ^ 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. lichid
14. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună
15. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu
16. ^ Cazacu, Boris (coord.) et al. (1967), Glosar dialectal. Oltenia, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 60
17. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
18. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional