obsesie

Forms

obsesie f (plural obsesii)^[1] The older form obsesiune is the one of the first record, Vlahuță's Dan: „sufereau ca de o obsesiune” “they suffered as if from an obsession”;^[2][3] Galaction still used it.^[4][2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French obsession.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} Marcu and Maneca compare Latin obsessiō (“siege”) as well.^[7] The French word is from the Latin one, a noun of obsideō (“to besiege”);^[1] Graur lists it in the family of sedeō (“to sit”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Vlahuță's novel Dan (1894), in the medical sense, as obsesiune: the characters' consciences felt spied upon and suffered “as if from an obsession”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word came in as a term of psychiatry, a disorder in which fixed ideas or fears force themselves on the mind.^[4][5] It soon passed into general use for an image or idea that haunts someone without rest, a tormenting preoccupation: Camil Petrescu writes of being always under the obsession of the regulations.^[4][3] Șăineanu's and Alexi's dictionaries list it as well.^[4]

Timeline

• 1894 – obsesiune in Vlahuță's Dan, the first record.^[2][4]
• 1955–1957 – the DLRLC gives obsesie as the standard form and obsesiune as dated.^[3]
• 2009 – DEX labels obsesiune obsolete.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An obsession: an image or idea that keeps returning to the mind against one's will; a tormenting preoccupation.^[5][2][1]
2. (medicine) A disorder of the will shown by fixed ideas or an irresistible urge to perform an act, the patient being aware that it is abnormal.^[5][2]

Related words

• French obsession

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 187
3. ^ a b c d Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 244
4. ^ 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. obsesie
5. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 730
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. obsesie
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. obsesie
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 89