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mesager

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word mesager

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1848 Negulici's vocabulary of neologisms More words from the 19th century
Borrowed from
French messager
Ultimate origin
French message

Forms

mesager m (plural mesageri)[1] Negulici's vocabulary of 1848 prints it mesaџer in the transitional alphabet, and Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 spells it messagerŭ.[2][3] A rare variant mesajăr is recorded too.[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French messager, with Italian messaggero as a second model, as MDA2, the DLR, DEX and the neologism dictionaries give it.[5][4][6][7][8] Wiktionary and Wikționar name only French.[1][9] The French word is inherited from Old French messagier, formed on message.[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Negulici's vocabulary of 1848, where a mesaџer is one who carries a message, an envoy.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Costinescu in 1870 gave three senses: a herald, an envoy, and a man in charge of carrying parcels and other goods from one town to another, the last as in French.[3] Șăineanu still had the carrier between towns in 1929, but later dictionaries keep only the bearer of a message.[11][6] Figurative uses came early: Costinescu's example is the swallows as messengers of spring.[4] Used as an adjective, it names the carrier pigeon, porumbel mesager.[6][7] Genetics gave it the sense of a fraction of ribonucleic acid that carries genetic information in the cell.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 1848 – mesaџer in Negulici's vocabulary, the first record.[2][5]
  • 1870 – messagerŭ in Costinescu: herald, envoy, carrier of parcels.[3]
  • 1875 – messageru in Antonescu's dictionary.[12]
  • 1886 – in Barcianu's dictionary, glossed German Bote.[13]
  • 1929 – Șăineanu: the bearer of a message and a carrier between towns.[11]
  • 1986 – DN records the genetic sense.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A messenger: a person charged with carrying or passing on a message; an envoy, a herald.[6][5][1]
  2. (figurative) A sign that announces something: Primii fulgi sunt mesagerii iernii.[4][14]
  3. (genetics) A fraction of ribonucleic acid that carries genetic information.[7][8]

Adjective

  1. Of pigeons: trained to return to their starting place, to carry a message;[6][5] porumbel mesager “carrier pigeon”.[6][5]

Usage notes

The feminine mesageră is rare.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
  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. mesager
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1492
  6. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 642
  7. ^ a b c d e Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
  8. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
  9. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
  10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 799
  11. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 395
  12. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 176
  13. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 378
  14. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 61

Related etymologies

  • cap · also from French
  • dura · also from French
  • pur · also from French
  • pană · also from French
  • pat · also from French
  • masă · also from French
  • lac · also from French
  • primar · also from French
Cite this entry

“Mesager.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/mesager. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·