manevră

Forms

manevră f (plural manevre)^[1] The first record has a neuter plural from the old variant manevru: „la manevrurile (mustră) care s-au făcut aproape de tabăra de la Crasnoe-Selo” “at the manoeuvres (review) held near the camp at Krasnoe Selo” (1829).^[2][3] MDA2 lists the regional variants manebăr, manegură, manemvră, manevără, manevăr, manevură and manevru.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French manœuvre, as DEX, Wiktionary and the neologism dictionaries give it.^[4][1][5][6] Ciorănescu also compares Italian manovra, and MDA2 names French, Italian and German Manöver together as sources.^[7][3] Scriban derived it through Russian from the German word.^[8]

The French noun, first manuevre in 1248, goes back to Medieval Latin manuopera (“work done by hand”), recorded about 800 in the sense “forced labour”, a compound of manus (“hand”) and opera (“work”).^[9][1][10] Ciorănescu notes that Romanian manoperă is a doublet of it, formed on the French model like Spanish maniobra.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1829, in a text the DLR cites as CR: a report of the military manoeuvres held near the camp at Krasnoe Selo, with the plural manevrurile glossed by mustră “review”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The military sense came first: tactical exercises of an army or fleet, then a rapid movement of troops against the enemy, and by extension a battle.^[2][3][4] Șăineanu's dictionary of 1929 adds the handling of a ship, and CADE the ropes used to work the sails.^[11][12] The railway sense, the shunting of carriages to make up a train, and the general sense “handling of a device” came later.^[4][3] The figurative sense “scheme, intrigue”, mostly in the plural, is in Scriban, who equates it with manoperă and tertip.^[8]

Timeline

• 1829 – manevrurile “the manoeuvres”, the first record.^[2][3]
• 1929 – Șăineanu gives the military and the nautical senses.^[11]
• 1939 – Scriban records the figurative sense “intrigue”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually plural) A rapid, organised movement of military units to strike the enemy or repel an attack; by extension, a battle.^[4][3]
2. (plural) Tactical exercises of an army or fleet in conditions like those of war: trupele au plecat la manevre “the troops have gone on manoeuvres”.^[4][3]
3. The set of operations by which a train is made up or broken up and its carriages moved; shunting.^[4][3]
4. The operations that steer a ship, especially when it docks or leaves port; also a rope used to work the sails or to tie the masts.^[4][3]
5. The handling of an apparatus or device; in medicine, the planned movements of an intervention: manevră obstetricală.^[4]
6. (figurative, mostly plural) A scheme or trick by which someone pursues an aim; tertip.^[4][3]

Word family

• manevra

Related words

• manoperă
• manipula

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. manevră
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1427
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 615
5. ^ 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 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. manevră
8. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 772
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 381
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. manevră