lot

Forms

lot n (plural loturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French lot.^[2][3][4][1] The Marcu–Maneca dictionary also names English lot.^[5] The French word comes from Frankish *lot (“share of a whole divided among several people”).^[6] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *hlutą and is cognate with German Los and Dutch lot.^[1][6]

Aromanian lot “lot, fate” has a separate source: Ciorănescu derives it from Italian lotto, and Papahagi and Pascu through Modern Greek λότο (lóto).^[2][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and the DLR date the first record to 1785, in Gheorghe Șincai's arithmetic, where it still meant a lottery share or prize.^[9][4]

Semantic evolution

Two senses came from French: a lottery ticket or its prize, now dated, and a share of something divided, above all a plot of land.^[4][10] The French word had meant a share since about 1140 and a lottery prize since 1680.^[6] The land sense became common in the 19th century with the sale and allotment of land to peasants: Ghica wrote that un lot de pământ was four hectares.^[4][11] Caragiale's Două loturi “Two lottery tickets” keeps the older sense.^[11]

Later the word came to mean a group of people or things with features in common: a batch of goods, a group of athletes chosen for a national team, and in medicine lot martor “control group”, after French lot témoin.^[3][12]

Timeline

• 1785 – in Șincai's arithmetic.^[9][4]
• 1870 – Costinescu: lottery ticket, share.^[13]
• 1931 – CADE gives the share of a divided whole and the lottery prize.^[14]
• 1960 – lot-model “model batch” in the press.^[12]
• 1980 – lot martor “control group” in the press.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A plot of land or forest, one of the parts into which it has been divided.^[3][15][1]
2. A group of things or beings with features in common, a batch of goods made or shipped together.^[3][15][1]
3. A group of athletes chosen to form a team: lotul național “the national squad”.^[3][1]
4. (dated) A lottery ticket, or the prize won on it.^[3][15]

Related words

• loterie
• loto
• loz

Usage notes

An older lot (masculine, plural loți) was a unit of weight of half an ounce, about 16.66 grams, borrowed from German Lot.^[16][17] It is recorded from 1645 in a document published by Iorga and was used into the 19th century.^[16][15] MDA2 treats both under one headword with French and German sources, which is why it dates lot from 1645.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. lot
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. 600
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lot 2
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 638
8. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 229
9. ^ 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. lot
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. lot
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
12. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE)
13. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 47
14. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
15. ^ 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, 1393
16. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. lot 1
17. ^ Borcia, Ioan (1903–1904), Deutsche Sprachelemente im Rumänischen, Leipzig (in Weigand, Zehnter Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig), p. 60