oxigen

Forms

oxigen n (uncountable)^[1] Older forms were oxighen, oxigheniu, oxigeniu, oxighenum and osigen.^[2][3][4] The DLR quotes them from early 19th-century texts: „Gas oxighenum” “oxygen gas”, „Ocsigeniu și hidrogeniu” “oxygen and hydrogen”, and „osigenului (materie elementară învietoare)” “of oxygen (a life-giving elementary matter)”.^[3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 prints it in the transitional alphabet as oкsiџen.^[5]

Etymology

It is a scientific term of the late 18th century that reached Romanian from several languages: the DLR, MDA2 and Tiktin name borrowed from New Latin oxygenium, borrowed from French oxygène, also borrowed from Italian ossigeno, while DEX, DN and MDN give French alone.^{[3][2][4][6][7][8]} The French word was coined from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp, sour, acid”) and γένος (génos, “birth”): “that produces acids”.^[9][1] Scriban and DN connect the second part with γεννάω (gennáō, “to beget”).^[10][7] The DHLF records a form oxygine in 1783 and the modern one in 1786, when Fourcroy credited the name to Lavoisier.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1825.^[4] MDA2's first is a hydrotherapy book of 1840, Carol Munde's account of Prisnit's cold-water cure, translated from German.^[2] The sense was the chemical element from the start.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Negulici's dictionary of 1848 explains it in the terms of Lavoisier's chemistry: the base of “vital air”, one of the principles of water, the generator of acids and the agent of combustion.^[5] Costinescu adds that it was formerly called aer diflogisticat “dephlogisticated air”.^[11] The Latin-looking forms in -geniu and -genum gave way to oxigen, and the modern dictionaries define it as the gas that makes up a fifth of the air and is needed for breathing and burning.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1825 – the first record, according to Tiktin.^[4]
• 1840 – in Carol Munde's book on the cold-water cure, MDA2's first record.^[2]
• 1848 – oкsiџen in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[5]
• 1870 – oxigenŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. oxygen: the chemical element, a colourless gas without smell or taste that makes up about a fifth of the atmosphere and is needed for breathing and combustion; with hidrogen it forms water.^[6][2][1]

Related words

• French oxygène

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 241
3. ^ 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. oxigen
4. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. oxigén
5. ^ 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. oxigen
6. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 759
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. oxigen
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. oxigen
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. oxygène
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 919
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 224