mondial

Forms

mondial m or n (feminine singular mondială, masculine plural mondiali, feminine/neuter plural mondiale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French mondial (“worldwide”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The French adjective goes back to Middle French, where it first meant worldly, of the material world as distinct from the spiritual;^[1] Wiktionary compares Ecclesiastical Latin mundiālis.^[1] Graur places it in the family of Latin mundus (“world; clean, neat”), beside monden and imund.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Theochar Alexi's Romanian–German dictionary of 1906.^[2][4] The DLR's earliest literary quotation is Bacovia's line „Greve, sânge, nebunie, Foame, Plânset mondial” “strikes, blood, madness, hunger, a worldwide lament”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective spread with the two world wars: războiul mondial “the world war” and primul or al doilea război mondial are among the DLR's quotations, from Sadoveanu, Bogza and Preda.^[4] The DLRLC adds piață mondială “world market” and renume mondial “worldwide fame”.^[7] A later sense is that of a competition in which (nearly) all countries take part, and the feminine is used as a noun, mondiala, for such a championship.^[8][5]

Timeline

• 1906 – in Alexi's dictionary, the first record.^[2][4]
• 1955–1957 – piață mondială and război mondial in the DLRLC.^[7]
• 1986 – used of a competition of all countries, also as a feminine noun.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to or concerning the whole world; worldwide, known all over the world.^[3][1]
2. Involving the whole world, or one in which all or most countries take part: război mondial “world war”.^[3][2]
3. Having an international or universal character.^[2]

Noun

1. (feminine, mondială) A world championship, a competition in which nearly all countries take part.^[8][5]

Related words

• monden
• imund
• universal

Usage notes

It is pronounced with i and a in separate syllables, -di-al.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 48
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 669
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. mondial
5. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. mondial
6. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
7. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 122
8. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 648