nepotrivit

Forms

nepotrivit m or n (feminine singular nepotrivită, masculine plural nepotriviți, feminine/neuter plural nepotrivite)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian ne- + potrivit, the negative prefix added to the adjective meaning “suitable, fitting”.^[2][3][4][1] The DLR defines it simply as the negative of that adjective, and Tiktin lists it under it.^[4][5] The adjective itself comes from potrivi (“to fit”) with the suffix -it.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Dosoftei in 1679.^[5] He also records an old sense, “incomparable”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Besides the general sense “unsuitable”, older texts used the word in a mathematical sense, “unequal in size”: Genilie's geography says that days and nights are nepotrivite, unequal, and Poenaru speaks of two unequal chords.^[4][2] Another old sense was “heterogeneous, ill-assorted”.^[2][4] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 glosses it with Latin “dispar” and German “ungleich, unproportionirt”, and Barcianu in 1886 with “ungleich, unpassend”.^[6][7]

The modern figurative senses, “unjustified” and “out of place, inopportune”, are the main ones today.^[2][3] Damé gave French “déplacé” for vorbă nepotrivită, an out-of-place remark.^[8]

Timeline

• 1679 – first record, in Dosoftei.^[5]
• 1825 – glossed “unequal, disproportionate” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[6]
• 1886 – “unequal, unsuitable” in Barcianu's dictionary.^[7]
• 1893–1895 – “disproportionate, incompatible; out of place” in Damé.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. unsuitable, not fitting: that does not match or suit someone or something.^[3][2][1]
2. (figurative) inappropriate, inopportune, out of place in a given situation: o întrebare nepotrivită “an ill-timed question”.^[3][2]
3. (figurative) Not justified.^[3][2]
4. (obsolete) unequal in size, one compared with the other; also heterogeneous.^[2][4]
5. (obsolete) Clumsy, awkward.^[2]

Related words

• potrivit
• potrivi
• nepotrivire

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 140
3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 709
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. nepotrivit
5. ^ 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. nepotrivit
6. ^ 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. 436
7. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 420
8. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. nepotrivit