moral

Forms

moral m or n (feminine singular morală, masculine plural morali, feminine/neuter plural morale)^[1] The noun moral “morale” is neuter, with the plural moraluri.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mōrālis (“relating to manners, moral”), a learned loan, and was also borrowed from French moral, as DEX, MDA2, the DLR and the neologism dictionaries give it.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} DER names only the French word, Scriban only the Latin one, and Tiktin the Latin adjective and morale.^[7][8][9] The Latin word was formed by Cicero from mōs (“custom, manner”) + -ālis to translate Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós).^[10][11][1] The French adjective was borrowed from Latin in 1212.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Micu's Loghica of 1781.^[9] MDA2 and the DLR start with Iorgovici's Observații de limba rumânească (1799): „Faptele morale, adecă cele ce purced din sloboda voie a noastră, împreună cu înțelepciunea” “moral deeds, that is, those that proceed from our free will together with wisdom”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first meant “relating to morals, conforming to them” and soon also “teaching a moral lesson”, as in a moral story of 1834.^[4] A second sense, “of the mind or spirit” as opposed to the body, is recorded in the 19th century, as in chinuri morale “mental torments” in Negruzzi.^[4] In the same period the old language also used the forms moralnic, moralic and moralicesc.^[9][3]

The neuter noun moral “state of mind, morale” is in Negulici's dictionary of 1848, which defines it as one's disposition towards good or evil, the spirit.^[13] Negruzzi speaks of the despair from which someone's moral suffers.^[14] The current sense “courage, confidence” lives in a ridica moralul “to raise someone's morale”.^[2][15] The Lexicon de la Buda (1825) uses moralu as a noun for ethics, the sense now held by morală.^[16]

Timeline

• 1781 – moral in Micu's Loghica.^[9]
• 1799 – faptele morale in Iorgovici's Observații.^[3][4]
• 1825 – the noun moralu “ethics” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[16]
• 1828 – moralelor cugetări “moral thoughts” in a document of the Uricariul.^[4]
• 1834 – o istorioară morală “a moral tale”.^[4]
• 1848 – the noun moral “disposition, spirit” in Negulici.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to morals or ethics; conforming to accepted standards of conduct, honest, good.^[2][3]
2. Containing a lesson; moralizing.^[2][5]
3. Relating to the mind, the spirit or the character; mental, spiritual: suferință morală.^[2][3]

Noun

1. The whole of a person's mental and spiritual faculties.^[2][3]
2. A temporary state of mind with regard to facing danger, fatigue or hardship; morale.^[2][1]
3. Courage, strength of mind: a ridica moralul cuiva “to raise someone's morale”, a-i scădea moralul “to lose heart”.^[2][3]

Word family

• morală
• moralicește
• moralitate
• moralist
• moraliza
• imoral

Related words

• Latin mōrālis

Usage notes

DLR and MDA2 also record an old neuter moral used for morală “ethics”.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 673
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 53
4. ^ 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. moral
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
7. ^ 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. moral
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 832
9. ^ 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. morál
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
13. ^ a b 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
14. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 125
15. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 408
16. ^ 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.)