orizont

Forms

orizont n (plural orizonturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian orizzonte, in the older Italian spelling ⟨orizonte⟩, according to DER and Wiktionary, with the variant orizon from French horizon.^[2][1] MDA2, the DLR and DEX give it several sources at once: Latin horizon, Modern Greek ορίζων (orízon), German Horizont, Italian and French.^[3][4][5] Tiktin derives it from the Greek and Latin word, reached through more than one language.^[6]

The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ὁρίζων (horízōn), short for ὁρίζων κύκλος (horízōn kúklos, “the separating circle”), the participle of ὁρίζω (horízō, “to mark out a boundary”), from ὅρος (hóros, “boundary”).^[7][1] The Italian word is recorded from Dante on (1313–1319).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dimitrie Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705), in the forms orizon and orizont;^[9] Cantemir already uses it figuratively, of the eye opening its lashes over the horizon.^[6][4][3]

Semantic evolution

For more than a century the forms competed: orizonte and horizont in late 18th- and early 19th-century texts, orizon in the 1820s and 1830s, in Asachi, Bălcescu and still in Eminescu, and orizont in Alecsandri.^[4] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 explains it from the Greek verb “to bound”.^[9] CADE in 1931 still kept orizon as the poetic form.^[10]

The figurative sense “range of knowledge, outlook” is old, from Cantemir on;^[11] Russo writes of eyes opened beyond the narrow horizon of a grammar.^[4] In the 20th century technical senses were added: a soil layer, a geological stratum, the set of workings on one level of a mine, and, in painting and the theatre, the backdrop.^[5][11]

Timeline

• 1705 – orizon and orizont in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[6][4]
• 1814 – horizont in a calendar.^[4]
• 1829 – orizonul in a figurative sense, in a document of the Uricariul.^[4]
• 1848 – orizont in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The horizon: the line where the earth and the sky seem to meet; the part of the sky or land bounded by it; the limit of sight; zare.^[5] Orizont adevărat: the celestial horizon of astronomy.^[5]
2. (figurative) The range of one's knowledge or interests; outlook, perspective.^[5] Fără orizont: narrow-minded.^[5][12]
3. (geology) A layer of a soil profile; a stratum or group of strata of the same origin, age and rock; in a mine, all the workings on one level.^[5]
4. (art, theatre) A backdrop.^[5]

Word family

• orizontal

Usage notes

The older variants orizon and orizonte are now obsolete.^[5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. orizont
3. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 226
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. orizónt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 751
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. orizónt
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. horizōn
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. orizont
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. orizont
11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. orizont
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. orizont