normă

Forms

normă f (plural norme)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French norme and directly borrowed from Latin norma (“carpenter's square; rule”), as DEX, MDA2 and Wikționar give it.^[2][3][4] DEX and MDA2 also name Russian норма (norma) as a model, and MDA2 adds German Norm.^[2][3] Tiktin gives the Latin word as the source, taken directly and through other languages;^[1] Wiktionary names only the French one.^[5][1]

French took the word from Latin in the 12th century; in Latin the word meant a carpenter's square and, figuratively, a rule of conduct, and it is probably a loan from Ancient Greek γνώμων (gnṓmōn) through Etruscan.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1783, in Șincai's catechism, where the word had the sense “elementary instruction”, now obsolete.^[5] MDA2's first record is the Romanian text of Joseph II's ordinance on the land survey, printed at Sibiu in 1786; it marks the sense “elementary instruction” as old and Transylvanian.^[3]

Semantic evolution

By 1870 Costinescu explained the word as “rule, order, maxim; model”.^[7] Phrases such as normă morală and normă juridică followed, and in aesthetics the word named a canon of artistic creation.^[3][2]

In the 20th century it came to mean the amount of work to be done in a given time: the derivative normator “work-norm setter” is recorded from 1949.^[8][9] In sport it means the minimum results needed for a title or a qualification.^[2]

Timeline

• 1783 – the first record, “elementary instruction”, in Șincai's catechism.^[5]
• 1786 – in the Romanian text of Joseph II's ordinance on the land survey, Sibiu.^[3]
• 1870 – “rule, maxim” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[7]
• 1949 – normator “work-norm setter”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rule or binding provision fixed by law or by custom;^[2][3] normă morală “moral norm”, normă juridică “legal rule”.^[2][3]
2. (sport) The minimum results an athlete must reach to gain a title or a qualification.^[2][10]
3. A criterion or standard of judgement.^[2][11]
4. A work quota: the amount of work to be done in a given time, or what is produced in it;^[2][9] normă de timp “time standard”.^[2][9]

Related words

• normal
• normator

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 721
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, 167
4. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
5. ^ 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. normă
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 181
8. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. normator
9. ^ 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, 220
10. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. normă
11. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. normă