militar

Forms

militar m (plural militari)^[1] The DLR records a popular form melitar in folk verse („Cinci suti di melitari, Tot călări și pi cai mari” “five hundred soldiers, all riding on big horses”) and an old form militer: „un cordon de militeri” “a cordon of soldiers” (1829).^[2] The dictionaries of the 19th century also have militariu.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French militaire, Latin mīlitāris (“of soldiers, military”) or German Militär, the sources listed by DEX, the DLR, MDA2 and Tiktin.^[4][2][3][5] Wiktionary names the French and Latin words,^[1] and Marcu and Maneca also compare Italian militare and mīlitārius.^[6] The Latin adjective is formed on mīles (“soldier”) with the suffix -āris,^[7] and the French word, recorded around 1355, is a loan from it.^[8] Cihac also compared Spanish militar and Portuguese militar in 1870.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1736, in a document edited by Stinghe, with the sense “soldier”.^[5] MDA2 and the DLR start with a note of about 1800: „2 ferdele ovăs, 4 pite… am dat la un militari” “2 measures of oats, 4 loaves… I gave to a soldier”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun came first, “a member of the army, a soldier”, opposed to a civilian.^[2][5] The adjective “of the army, military” is quoted from 1830, in slujba militară “military service” and in an account of institutions run on military lines.^[2] The phrase serviciu or stagiu militar names compulsory military service, and the adjective also took the sense “carried out by the army”.^[4][6] The word entered folk poetry as well: „M-a dat satul militar” “the village gave me to be a soldier”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1736 – “soldier” in a document edited by Stinghe, the first record.^[5]
• c. 1800 – „un militari” in a note of payments.^[3][2]
• 1829 – the form militeri.^[2]
• 1830 – the adjective, in slujba militară “military service”.^[2]
• 1870 – Cihac lists the derivatives milităresc and militărime.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A soldier, a member of the armed forces or a man called up for service, as opposed to a civilian.^[4][3][1]

Adjective

1. military: belonging to or typical of the army or soldiers, done on military lines: serviciu militar “military service”.^[4][3]
2. Carried out by or through the army.^[4]

Word family

• milităresc
• militărime

Related words

• miliție

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. militar
3. ^ 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. 2, 13
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 654
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. militar
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. militar
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 165