neajutorat

Forms

neajutorat m or n (feminine singular neajutorată, masculine plural neajutorați, feminine/neuter plural neajutorate)^[1] An old variant is neajutorit: „au năzuit la domnul nostru cu mare rugăminte, ca să nu-l lase neajutorit” “he turned to our prince with a great plea not to leave him without help”.^[2][3] A regional variant is neajuturat: „Ochii lui speriați, neajuturați” “his frightened, helpless eyes” (Agîrbiceanu).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian ne- + ajutorat, the negative of the adjective “helped, supported”.^[4][3][2] Wiktionary analyses it as ne- with the noun ajutor “help” and the suffix -at.^[1] Ajutorat is formed on the verb ajutora, which is made from the same noun;^[5][6] DELR counts the adjective in the family of ajuta.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DLR's first quotation is from R. Popescu, as printed in the Magazin istoric, in the old form neajutorit and the sense “left without help”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is “lacking help, support or defence”; used as a noun, cei neajutorați are the helpless, as in Conachi's verse.^[2][8] From there the word came to mean “lacking means, poor”, and specially “unable to manage in life”.^[2][3] It also describes what betrays helplessness or clumsiness, with the rare synonym neajutat.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lacking help, support or defence; helpless.^[4][3][1]
2. Lacking means or material resources; poor, needy.^[4][8]
3. Unable to manage alone; clumsy, inept.^[4][9]
4. (as a noun) A helpless or needy person: cei neajutorați “the helpless”.^[3][8]

Related words

• ajutor
• ajuta
• ajutora
• ajutorat

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. neajutorat
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, 114
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 696
5. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 32
6. ^ DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 24
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. ajuta
8. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 178
9. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. neajutorat