licitație

Forms

licitație f (plural licitații)^[1] The older form was licitațiune; regional forms include lițitație, lichitație, lizitație and lițâtație.^[2][3] A Pravila of 1814 has the plural lițitații: „formele pravilii pentru lițitații” “the forms of the law for auctions”.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French licitation, as Tiktin, the DA and Wiktionary give it.^[5][4][1] DEX and the neologism dictionaries add Latin licitātiō (“bidding”).^{[5][4][1][2][6]} MDA2 names German Lizitation besides French, and the DA traces the rare form litație to German.^[3][4] The Latin noun is formed on licitor (“to bid”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is the forest code that Emperor Joseph II gave Bukovina in 1786.^[3] Tiktin's first date is the Pravila of 1814.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word replaced the older mezat “public sale”: the Pravila of 1814 already explains that auctions had become sales by mezat.^[4][2] Its core sense is the public sale of a good to the highest bidder; the modern dictionaries add the opposite procedure, in which work or services go to the offer with the lowest price.^[2][6] In card games it is the bidding, and MDA2 records a game of this name.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1786 – the first record, in the forest code of Bukovina.^[3]
• 1814 – lițitații “auctions” in a Pravila.^[4][5]
• 1855 – licitație publică “public auction” in a document.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An auction: a public sale of a good under special rules, in which it goes to the person who offers the highest price.^[2][3]
2. A tender: a procedure in which a contract goes to the offer with the lowest price or the best conditions.^[2][6]
3. In card games, the bidding; also a card game in which the player with the highest cards of a suit makes it trumps.^[3][4]

Related words

• licita
• licitator
• mezat
• Latin licitātiō

Usage notes

A scoate la licitație means “to put up for auction”.^[8][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 590
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1362
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. licitație
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. licitație
6. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. licitație
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 756