loialitate

Forms

loialitate f (plural loialități)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian loial + -itate, after French loyauté.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Marcu's dictionary of neologisms names the English word loyalty as a second model.^[6] loial is from French loyal, and Wiktionary notes that it is a doublet of legal.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DLR's first quotation, which MDA2 takes as the first record, is from Asachi's literary writings: Mailat, “doubting the loyalty of the Turks”, swore that he would come.^[3][4] The first dated record is in Costinescu's dictionary of 1870, glossed “fidelity, probity” and French loyauté.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In 1871 Laurian and Massim listed loialitate among foreign words, referring readers to their own lealitate and legalitate.^[8] The word nonetheless spread: Eminescu used it of loyalty to the crown of St Stephen, and in the 20th century it became a term of moral praise in Camil Petrescu, Vianu and Ralea.^[3] DLRLC (1955–1957) still labelled it a Gallicism.^[9]

Timeline

• 19th century – in Asachi's writings, the first quotation.^[3][4]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary.^[7]
• 1871 – listed as a foreign word by Laurian and Massim.^[8]
• 1886 – in Barcianu's dictionary, “honesty, faithfulness”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. loyalty: the quality of being loial; sincerity, fidelity, lealitate.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• lealitate
• legalitate

Usage notes

It is pronounced lo-ia-li-ta-te, with o and ia in separate syllables; the variant loaialitate also occurs, for example in Sebastian.^[3][2][5][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 600
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. loialitate
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1389
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
7. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 46
8. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871), Glossariu care coprinde vorbele d'in limba romana straine prin originea sau form'a loru, cumu si celle de origine indouiosa, Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 778
10. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 356