locotenent

Forms

locotenent m (plural locotenenți)^[1] Old texts have many forms: logotenente in Ianache Văcărescul's history, „eu sânt orânduit un logotenente al domniei la regență” “I am appointed a deputy of the reign for the regency”.^[2] MDA2 also lists the obsolete locumtenente, locutenente, locuținent, lotenant, laitnant, leitenant, lieutenant and liotenant.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian locotenente or luogotenente.^[4][2][5][1] The Italian word comes from Medieval Latin locum tenens (“holding the place”), the title of a deputy who stood in for an official, which became a military rank in the 16th and 17th centuries.^[6] MDA2 names the Medieval Latin phrase as a second source of the Romanian word.^[3] Scriban explains it as Italian luogo (“place”) and tenente (“holding”), and compares French lieutenant.^[7]

The variant locuținent was reshaped after Romanian ține, “to hold”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1782, in the sense “deputy”.^[5] MDA2 and the DLR begin with Ianache Văcărescul's history of the Ottoman emperors, where the author calls himself a logotenente of the reign for the regency.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a person who stood in for a ruler or a dignitary: the locotenent domnesc of the Romanian principalities, a member of a regency, and the deputy of a bishop.^[2][3] It also named the representative of a Romanian prince at the Ottoman Porte, the chehaie.^[3][8]

In the 19th century it became the military rank between second lieutenant and captain, first quoted in the DA from Costache Negruzzi.^[8][2] Compounds name related ranks: sublocotenent, locotenent-major, locotenent-colonel and the old naval and air rank locotenent-comandor.^[2][4] Today the press also uses it for a chief's right-hand man.^[9] In slang it is a middle-sized cigarette butt.^[10]

Timeline

• 1782 – locotenent “deputy”, the first record.^[5]
• 1852 – a deputy of the bishop of Roman in the Uricariul.^[2]
• 1862 – Pontbriant's dictionary.^[2]
• 1886 – Barcianu gives both “deputy” and the rank Leutnant, with locotenent-colonel and locotenent general.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. lieutenant: the officer's rank above second lieutenant and below captain; an officer of this rank.^[4][3][1]
2. locotenent-colonel: lieutenant colonel, the rank above maior and below colonel.^[4]
3. (obsolete) A person who stood in for a ruler or dignitary; a deputy or regent.^[4][3]
4. (by extension) A chief's right-hand man.^[9]

Word family

• sublocotenent

Related words

• loc
• ține
• Italian luogotenente

Usage notes

The vocative is locotenente, the form used to address the officer: „Te-am lăsat, locotenente” in Camil Petrescu.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. locotenent
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, 1385
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 598
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. locotenent
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 755
8. ^ 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. locotenent
9. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. locotenent
10. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. locotenent
11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 356
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 776