muzeu

Forms

muzeu n (plural muzee)^[1] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 spells it museŭ and refers muzeŭ to that spelling.^[2] Beside the plural muzee, a plural muzeuri is recorded.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mūsēum, German Museum and French musée, a learned borrowing with several models in DEX and Marcu,^[5][6] and MDA2 and the DLR add Modern Greek μουσεῖον (mouseíon).^[4][7] Tiktin gives only the Greek and Latin word.^[8]

The Latin word meant “a seat of the Muses; a library, a study”.^[9] It is from Ancient Greek Μουσεῖον (Mouseîon, “shrine of the Muses”), from Μοῦσα (Moûsa, “Muse”).^[1][10] German took it in the 16th century as “study room” and used it for an art collection from the 17th century;^[11] French adapted the Latin word in the 13th century.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Cantemir's Hronicul vechimei romano-moldo-vlahilor of 1722.^[8] There the word means a place of learning, and Cantemir explains muzeele as the rooms where people sit to read and study.^[7] MDA2 cites the same text, giving the year of its 1901 edition.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were a learned institution for letters, sciences and arts, and by extension a library; dictionaries of the 19th century also give the ancient temple of the Muses.^[7][4] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848 already has both the place of study and the place where monuments and works of art are gathered.^[13] The modern sense, an institution that collects, keeps and shows objects of historical, scientific or artistic interest, and the building that houses it, is the only one in use today.^[5][4]

The phrase de muzeu means “rare, precious”, and ironically “antiquated”.^[5][3] Recent Romanian forms compounds such as casă-muzeu “house museum” and oraș-muzeu “museum town”.^[14]

Timeline

• 1722 – muzeele “rooms for study” in Cantemir's Hronic.^[8][7]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, as a place of study and of collections.^[13]
• 1870 – museŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A museum: an institution that collects, keeps, studies and shows objects of historical, scientific or artistic interest; the building that houses it.^[5][1]
2. (in the phrase) de muzeu “rare, precious”;^[15] (ironic) “antiquated”.^[5]
3. (obsolete) An institution for the study of letters, sciences and arts; a library.^[4][7]
4. (obsolete) An ancient temple of the Muses.^[4][7]

Related words

• muză
• Latin mūsēum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 130
3. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. muzeu
4. ^ 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, 89
5. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 687
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. muzeu
7. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. muzeu
8. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. muzeu
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
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, p. s.v. muzeu
14. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. muzeu
15. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. gravid