mesaj

Forms

mesaj n (plural mesaje)^[1] The variant mesagiu follows Italian: Filimon writes „Se duse ca să-și împlinească mesagiul” “He went to fulfil his errand”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French message.^[3][2][1] Ciorănescu and MDA2 add borrowed from Italian messaggio, the model of the variant mesagiu.^[4][5][2]

The French word was formed in the 11th century with the suffix -age on Old French mes (“envoy, messenger”), which comes from Late Latin missus (“one sent”), the past participle of mittō (“to send”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Negulici's dictionary of new words, 1848.^[5][2] The first sense, now rare, was the task of carrying or delivering something to someone, an errand.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the errand the word passed to what is carried or told: a letter, a parcel, a piece of news.^[2][3] Under the constitutional monarchy it named the sovereign's official message to parliament, mesajul Tronului “the speech from the throne”.^[7][4][5] Hence the general sense of an official address to the people or the army.^[3]

Later dictionaries add the ideas an artwork conveys and, in biology, the mesaj genetic “genetic message”.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1848 – first record, in Negulici.^[5][2]
• 1893–1895 – Damé glosses it with French message.^[10]
• 1929 – Șăineanu records the sovereign's message to parliament.^[7]
• 1986 – Marcu & Maneca give the sense “the ideas of a work of art” and mesaj genetic.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An official address, spoken or written, to the people, the army or another body.^[3][5]
2. A message: what is passed on or told to someone; news, a communication.^[3][1]
3. The ideas or meaning that a work of art conveys.^[8][9]
4. (dated) An errand: the task of carrying or delivering something to someone.^[5][2]

Word family

• mesajer
• mesager
• mesagerie

Related words

• misiune
• permite

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mesaj
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. 643
4. ^ 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. mesaj
5. ^ 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, 1492
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 395
8. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. mesaj
9. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. mesaj
10. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. mesaj