opțiune

Forms

opțiune f (plural opțiuni)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French option, a learned word;^[2][3][4][5] MDA2, DLR, DEX and Marcu name Latin as a second source, so that it is equally borrowed from Latin optiō (“choice”).^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary gives French alone, the French word being itself taken from the Latin one.^[1] In Latin it is formed on optō (“to choose, wish”).^[1][6] Scriban takes the Romanian word straight from Latin and links it to opta.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to a Calendariu of 1794.^[2] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 defines it as the power or act of choosing.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “choice, the right to choose” took legal uses: the drept de opțiune, the right to choose one's citizenship or to accept or refuse an inheritance.^[4][2] CADE (1931) records the trading sense, the right to buy or to withdraw from a deal within an agreed time.^[9] In MDA2 the word also means “preference”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1794 – first record, in a Calendariu.^[2]
• 1870 – “the power or act of choosing” in Costinescu.^[8]
• 1931 – the legal and trading senses in CADE.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. choice: the act or the right of choosing between two or more things or possibilities.^[4][2][1]
2. (law) a choice made by right between two or more legal situations;^[4][2] drept de opțiune, the right to choose one's citizenship or to accept or refuse an inheritance.^[4][2]
3. (commerce) an option: a condition of a transaction that gives the buyer a set time to complete or abandon it, while the seller stays bound.^[4][10]

Related words

• opta
• opțional

Usage notes

MDA2 records an old regional variant opționă.^[2] It is pronounced with four syllables, op-ți-u-ne.^[10][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 218
3. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. opțiune
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 746
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. opțiune
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 905
8. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 211
9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. opțiune
10. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. opțiune