mod

Forms

mod n (plural moduri)^[1] An older feminine modă had the same senses: „Ceucei îi era rușine a se arăta în moda sa cea firească” “the ceucă was ashamed to show itself in its natural fashion” (Țichindeal).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin modus (“measure; manner, way”).^[4][5][6] MDA2 and the DLR give Latin, Italian modo and French mode together, Wiktionary French alone, and Tiktin says the Latin word came by several routes.^[3][2][1][5] Gáldi held that the Transylvanian ⟨mód⟩ of the 17th century was borrowed from Hungarian mód, as was its doublet modru, which is the older of the two;^[7][4] Ciorănescu also derives modru from Hungarian.^[7][4] Ciorănescu calls Philippide's derivation from modulus improbable.^[4]

The Latin noun comes from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure”).^[1][8] The Romance languages have it as Old French muef, Occitan mo and Catalan mou.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1648.^[5] MDA2 dates the word to the Romanian–Latin glossary called Anonymus Caransebesiensis, of the second half of the 17th century, and Ciorănescu names Radu Greceanu as the first author to use it.^[3][4] The sense was “way, manner”: Cantemir writes of modul lesnirii “the way of easing”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Latin senses “manner” and “measure” came with the learned uses of the word: Micu writes of noao moduri de silloghismi “nine moods of syllogism”, and the grammatical mood of the verb and the musical mode followed.^[2][6] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 also records a sense “possibility, means”, in nu-i modu “it is not possible”, glossed with Hungarian nincsen mód benne.^[11] The same turn survives in Transylvania and Banat as nu e mod “it cannot be done”, and the old language had a (nu) avea mod “to have (no) means”.^[3] The 20th century added economic terms such as mod de producție “mode of production” and mod de viață “way of life”.^[12][13]

Romanian modă “fashion” is a separate borrowing, from French mode or Italian moda.^[4]

Timeline

• 1648 – the first record Tiktin gives.^[5]
• c. 1650-1700 – mod in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary.^[3]
• 1705 – modul “the way” in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[5]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary glosses Mod as Latin modus.^[14]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda records “way” and “possibility”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. way, manner: the way someone or something is, appears or acts; a method or procedure, as in mod de viață “way of life”.^[12][15][1]
2. (grammar) In the phrases adverb de mod, complement circumstanțial de mod and propoziție circumstanțială de mod: of manner, showing how an action takes place.^[12][3]
3. (grammar) mood: the category of the verb that shows how the speaker presents the action; each of its forms (indicative, subjunctive and so on).^[12][6][1]
4. (music) mode: the system of relations between the notes of a scale, as in mod major, mod minor.^[12][15]
5. (regional, Transylvania and Banat) Nu e mod: it is not possible.^[3]

Related words

• modru
• modă
• modifica
• modest
• cum
• Latin modus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mod
3. ^ 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. 2, 37
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. mod
5. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. mod
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 824
7. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 167
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. modus
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. modus
10. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 169
11. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 397
12. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 664
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 113
14. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 400
15. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. mod