ostil

Forms

ostil m or n (feminine singular ostilă, masculine plural ostili, feminine/neuter plural ostile)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French hostile.^[2][3][4] The DN and the MDN name Latin hostīlis as well, and Wiktionary gives both sources;^[5][6][1][7] Scriban takes it from the Latin word alone.^[5][6][1][7] The French word is a learned loan from Latin, recorded in the 16th century after an earlier variant hostif.^[8] That adjective, “of an enemy”, is formed from Latin hostis (“enemy”) + -īlis.^[9][1]

The same Latin noun hostis, first “stranger” and then “enemy”, survives in Romanian as oaste “army”, so the adjective is a learned relative of that inherited word.^[10][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848 lists it with the Latin hostilis and glosses it “attacking, offensive”.^[11] MDA2's first record is Barasch's course of popular hygiene of 1857.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense “unfriendly, inimical” to people, governments and ideas;^[4][12] Ghica writes of men less hostile to the nationalities.^[4][12] It is also used figuratively of places and things that seem hostile, such as a house with drawn blinds, and as an adverb, “to look at someone with hostility”.^[4] The MDN adds the sense “unfavourable”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1848 – listed in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[11]
• 1857 – in Barasch's course of popular hygiene.^[3]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it German feindlich, feindselig.^[13]
• 1893–1895 – Damé glosses it French hostile.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. hostile, showing an unfriendly or adverse attitude towards someone or something; dușmănos, vrăjmaș: o privire ostilă.^[2][3][1]
2. unfavourable, adverse.^[6]

Related words

• oaste
• ostilitate

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 756
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 234
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ostil
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. ostil
6. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. ostil
7. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 915
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. hostile
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. hostīlis
10. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 52
11. ^ a b 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. ostil
12. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 293
13. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 446
14. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État