panou

Forms

panou n (plural panouri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French panneau (“panel, board”), as DER, MDA2, DEX, the DLR and the neologism dictionaries agree.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} The French word was long written ⟨panel⟩; it continues Old French panel, from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, a diminutive of pannus (“piece of cloth”).^[7][1] The phrase panou solar follows panneau solaire, compare English solar panel.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record that MDA2 and the DLR cite is a stage direction in Camil Petrescu's Teatru (third volume, 1947): an enormous panel hangs on a wall, showing the original of an advertising poster.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In French the word first named pieces of cloth; from 1213 on it also named a part of a rigid surface in building and woodwork.^[7] In the press of the late 1940s and 1950s it was the board for slogans and posters, and the panou de onoare showed the best workers of a factory, a use DEX now marks as obsolete.^[5][4] Technical senses followed: the panou de comandă “control panel”, the backboard in basketball, a target for shooting, a prefabricated wall element in building and a section of a mine.^[3][4][5] Panou solar is recorded in the press from 2003.^[8]

Timeline

• 1947 – a panel with a poster in Camil Petrescu's Teatru, the first record.^[3][5]
• 1948 – panels with slogans in the periodical Contemporanul.^[5]
• 1952 – a panel showing the map of the country in Scînteia.^[5]
• 2003 – panou solar “solar panel” in an advertisement.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A board of wood, cardboard and the like, of any size, on which posters are put up or slogans written;^[4][3][1] (obsolete) panou de onoare: a board showing workers singled out for merit.^[4][3][1]
2. A panel: a part of a surface set off from the rest by colour, material or mouldings;^[4] panou de comandă: a control panel.^[4]
3. The backboard that holds the basket in basketball.^[4][3]
4. panou de tragere (de tir): a target for shooting practice.^[4]
5. A thin wall element, joined to others to make a structure; a prefabricated panel.^[4][9]

Related words

• French panneau

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. panou
3. ^ 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, 257
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 768
5. ^ 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. panou
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. panou
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. panou
9. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. panou