logodnică

Forms

logodnică f (plural logodnice, masculine equivalent logodnic)^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine noun formed from Romanian logodnic (“fiancé”) + -ă.^[1][2][3] The masculine is itself formed on logodnă (“betrothal”) with the suffix -nic, as DEX, MDA2 and DLR state.^[3][4][5] The older Academy dictionary instead took it straight from the Slavonic adjective named below, with the usual change of the Slavic ending to ⟨-nic⟩.^[6] That Slavonic word is Old Church Slavonic лагодьнъ (lagodĭnŭ), an adjective meaning “fitting, suitable”.^[4][3][2] Ciorănescu groups the whole family under the verb logodi, from Slavonic лагодити (lagoditi, “to come to an agreement”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 lists logodnică as a feminine noun and glosses it with Latin sponsa, Hungarian mátka and German die Verlobte, die Braut “the betrothed woman, the bride”.^[7] The masculine is far older: Tiktin dates it to about 1540, and MDA2 to Varlaam's Cazania of 1643.^[8][4]

Semantic evolution

The word names a woman who has become engaged to someone, seen in relation to her future husband.^[3][4] It is common in the literature of the 19th century: Eminescu's “Logodnica lui Arald” “Arald's betrothed” and Ispirescu's tales, where the emperor's sons marry the brides they had chosen.^[9][6] Figuratively, MDA2 records the masculine and feminine for a person devoted to an ideal or a cause.^[4] An older feminine, logodită, was used in the same sense.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1540 – the masculine logodnic in a Slavonic–Romanian document.^[8][5]
• 1643 – logodnic in Varlaam's Cazania.^[4]
• 1825 – logodnică in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[7]
• 19th century – Eminescu's “Logodnica lui Arald”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. fiancée: a woman engaged to be married, considered in relation to the man she is engaged to.^[3][4][1]
2. (figurative) A woman devoted to an ideal or a cause.^[4]

Related words

• logodnic
• logodnă
• logodi

Usage notes

The masculine and the feminine share one dictionary entry in DEX and MDA2 (logodnic, -ă); the plural logodnici also names the engaged couple.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. logodi
3. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 599
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1388
5. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. logodnic
6. ^ 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. logodnic
7. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 357
8. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. logodnic
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 778