Etymology and origin of the Romanian word medical
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1830 Curierul românesc More words from the 19th century
- Borrowed from
- French médical
- Ultimate origin
- Latin medicus
From the same root
Forms
medical m or n (feminine singular medicală, masculine plural medicali, feminine/neuter plural medicale)[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from French médical.[2][3][4][5][6] The French adjective is from Medieval Latin medicālis, formed on Latin medicus (“physician”).[1] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms gave the Medieval Latin word as its source in 1848,[7] and Scriban cites Italian medico and Spanish médico beside the French word.[8] The Romanian noun medic goes back to the same Latin word.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first record is in the Curierul românesc of 1830, which glossed the new word with a native one: „inspectorii medicali (doctorești)” “the medical (doctors') inspectors”.[4][3] Another early text explains „fisiognomia medicală” as doctoricească.[4]
Semantic evolution
The adjective took the place of older Romanian equivalents, medicesc, doctoresc and doctoricesc, which DLR and MDA2 list as dated or popular synonyms.[4][3] Negulici in 1848 defined it simply as “of medicine”.[7] It entered set phrases of the administration and of health care: concediu medical “sick leave” and gimnastică medicală “remedial exercises”.[2][5]
Timeline
- 1830 – inspectorii medicali in the Curierul românesc, the first record.[4][3]
- 1848 – listed by Negulici among the neologisms.[7]
- 1893–1895 – in Damé's Romanian–French dictionary.[9]
Meanings
Adjective
- Relating to medicine or to the physician: asistență medicală “medical care”.[2][10]
- concediu medical: sick leave.[2][3]
- gimnastică medicală: exercises meant to correct physical defects or restore a bodily function.[2][3]
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 636
- ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1479
- ^ 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. medical
- ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. medical
- ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. medical
- ^ a b c 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, p. 256
- ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 792
- ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. medical
- ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. medical
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Medical.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/medical. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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