masiv

Forms

masiv m or n (feminine singular masivă, masculine plural masivi, feminine/neuter plural masive)^[1] The 19th century also spelled it massiv, after French: Costinescu's dictionary has Massivŭ “hard, dense, full and thick”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French massif and German Massiv, as MDA2, DEX, the DLR, MDN and Wiktionary give it.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} DN, CADE and Scriban name French alone, and Ciorănescu lists the adjective under masă as a borrowing of the French word.^{[7][8][9][10]} Wiktionary notes that within Romanian the word can be analysed as that noun, “mass”, with the suffix -iv.^[1]

The French word continues Old French massiz, with the ending replaced by -if, from Vulgar Latin *massīcius, a derivative of Latin massa (“lump, mass”).^[1] Scriban compares Italian massiccio and Spanish macizo.^[9] German took the adjective from French in the 17th century, and the noun, “block, mountain massif”, in the 19th.^[11][12] The Latin word is in turn from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley cake, lump”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1829, in the phrase aur masiv “solid gold”, in a periodical the DLR quotes.^[5][2] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) defines the adjective as said of a metal object that is not hollow inside, and figuratively of something too big or too heavy.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first described solid matter without gaps, such as gold or bronze, and then anything large, heavy and imposing: buildings, beams, people and animals.^[5][14] A newer sense is “on a large scale, in great quantity”, as in a massive bombardment or departure.^[4][15]

The noun follows French massif: a mountain range or group of heights around one summit, as in masivul Bucegilor, recorded in CADE as a chain of mountains.^[14][8] Forestry uses it for a stand of trees whose crowns touch, and building for a large block of concrete or masonry.^[4][2] The usual noun plural is masive;^[2][14] masivuri is rare.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 1829 – aur masiv “solid gold”, the first record.^[5][2]
• 1848 – defined in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[13]
• 1857 – coffins made of solid planks, scînduri masive, in a calendar.^[5]
• 1870 – the spelling Massivŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[3]
• 1931 – CADE records the noun, a chain of mountains.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Forming one compact mass; of an object, made of solid material without hollows, and so heavy.^[4][16]
2. Large, solid and heavy; by extension imposing because of its size; said of people, animals and buildings.^[4][6]
3. Happening or produced in large quantities, on a wide scale: o retragere masivă a investitorilor “a massive withdrawal of investors”.^[4][15]

Noun

1. A massif: a unit of relief formed by a group of mountains or hills around a summit; by restriction, a mountain.^[4][7]
2. A stand of forest whose tree crowns touch; a group of trees, shrubs or plants of one kind, planted for decorative effect.^[4][2]
3. A large block of concrete or masonry to which a structure is tied or on which it rests.^[4]
4. A large mass of solid material, a heap; the most compact or most important part of a whole.^[4][14]

Word family

• masivitate

Related words

• masă
• French massif

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1440
3. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 77
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 622
5. ^ 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. masiv
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
8. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
9. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 779
10. ^ 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. masă
11. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
12. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
13. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București
14. ^ a b c d e Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 25
15. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
16. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria