obiectiv

Forms

obiectiv m or n (feminine singular obiectivă, masculine plural obiectivi, feminine/neuter plural obiective)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French objectif, a 19th-century learned word.^[2][3][4][1] MDA2, DLR and Wiktionary also name borrowed from Medieval Latin objectīvus as a source.^[3][4][1] DEX names only French, Scriban only Latin.^[2][5] The French adjective, first used by Descartes in 1642, was borrowed from that scholastic Latin term, “belonging to the object of thought”, a derivative of objectum (“object”).^[6] That is the participle of obiciō (“to put before, to present”), formed on iaciō (“to throw”).^[7][1] Wiktionary notes that it matches Romanian obiect with the suffix ⟨-iv⟩.^[1] It belongs to the same Latin family as subiect, proiect and adjectiv.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has it as an adjective, “relating to the object”, with a theological sense “outside ourselves”.^[8] MDA2's first record is in Nicolae Bălcescu's writings, in their 1878 edition, where pagan civilization stands for the outward, “objective” principle of nature and force.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first served philosophy, for what exists outside and independently of consciousness, and then came to mean “impartial, faithful to reality”, as in Caragiale's din punctul de vedere obiectiv pur “from a purely objective point of view”.^[4][2] Grammar took it for what relates to the object.^[2]

The neuter noun followed the French noun: Șăineanu's dictionary of 1929 already lists the lens of a telescope and the point an attack is aimed at.^[9] The sense “aim, goal” is figurative, and under socialism obiectiv also came to mean a factory or building to be put up.^[3][2][10] In recent use it also names a place of interest to tourists.^[10]

Timeline

• 1867 – the derivative obiectivitate in Maiorescu's Critice.^[11]
• 1870 – obiectivu in Costinescu's dictionary.^[8]
• 1878 – the philosophical sense in the edition of Bălcescu's writings.^[3]
• 1893–1895 – in Damé's dictionary, glossed with French objectif.^[12]
• 1896 – the verb obiectiva, borrowed from French objectiver.^[3]
• 1929 – the noun senses “lens” and “target of an attack”.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (philosophy) Existing as a reality independent of the mind, or conforming to it; opposed to subiectiv: idealism obiectiv “objective idealism”.^[2][3]
2. Impartial, rendering reality faithfully, free of personal feelings; also as an adverb: a judeca obiectiv “to judge objectively”.^[2][4]
3. (grammar) Relating to the direct or indirect object: reflexiv obiectiv.^[2]

Noun

1. An objective lens: the lens or system of lenses of a camera, microscope or telescope that faces the thing observed.^[2][3]
2. (military) A piece of ground, a town or a fortress of importance in war; a target fired at or bombed.^[2][3]
3. (figurative) An aim, goal; concretely, something to be built or carried out, such as a factory: obiectiv industrial.^[2][3]
4. A place of interest to tourists: obiective turistice.^[10]

Word family

• obiectivitate
• obiectivism

Related words

• obiect
• subiectiv
• obiectiva
• French objectif

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 i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 728
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 182
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. obiectiv
5. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 884
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. s.v. iacio
8. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 188
9. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 436
10. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. obiectiv
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 183
12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. obiectiv