obiect

Forms

obiect n (plural obiecte)^[1] Older variants are oget, obiectum and objet;^[2][3] Căpățineanu writes „objetul cântecilor sale” “the object of his songs”.^[2][3] An old plural obiecturi occurs in Mumuleanu: „am scris aceste obiecturi” “I have written on these subjects”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin obiectum (“something presented, an object”), also borrowed from German Objekt.^[4][2][1] Ciorănescu gives Latin alone and dates the loan to the 19th century, Tiktin gives New Latin, MDA2 adds French objet, and Marcu & Maneca compare the French word.^[5][6][2][7] DLR derives the old variant oget from Italian oggetto.^[3]

The Latin word is the neuter of the past participle of obiciō (“to throw towards, to present”), used as a noun; in Classical Latin it meant a charge or accusation, and in philosophy something presented to the senses.^[8][1] The scholastic philosophers of the Middle Ages made it their term for the object of the mind, and the German word was borrowed from it in the 14th century.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1786, in a text DLR also cites for the sense “matter on which an activity is directed”.^[6][3] MDA2's first record is Gheorghe Asachi's algebra textbook of 1817: „Obiectul științii” “the object of the science”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was abstract: the matter an activity or a science deals with.^[3] It gave the subject of a discussion, a question, an aim and a school subject.^[3][2] The concrete sense, a solid, usually made thing, is the main one today.^[4][11] Philosophy opposes it to subiect as what exists outside the self, and grammar uses it for the complement of a verb.^[4][10]

Timeline

• 1786 – the first record.^[6]
• 1817 – obiectul științii in Asachi's algebra.^[2][3]
• 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary gives what is shown to the eyes, a thing, a cause and an aim.^[12]
• 1931 – CADE adds the grammatical sense, the direct complement of a verb.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. An object, a thing: a solid body, usually made by hand, with a particular use;^[4][1] obiect de inventar “an inventory item”.^[4][1]
2. What thought or intellectual activity is directed at: obiectul cercetării “the subject of the research”;^[4] la obiect “to the point”.^[4]
3. (philosophy) What exists outside the self, independently of the knowing subject.^[4][14]
4. A school subject, a discipline of study.^[4]
5. An aim, a goal.^[4]
6. (grammar) obiect direct, obiect indirect: the direct or indirect complement.^[4]

Related words

• obiecta
• obiectiv
• obiectivitate
• subiect
• proiect
• Latin obiectum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 182
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. obiect
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 728
5. ^ 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. obiect
6. ^ 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. obiect
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. obiect
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 664
10. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 884
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 237
12. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 188
13. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. obiect
14. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. obiect