pasager

Forms

pasager m (plural pasageri, feminine equivalent pasageră)^[1] An old variant is pasajer: „Măsura ci trebuia să luăm pintru pasajerii ci intră în Moldova” “the measure we had to take for the passengers entering Moldavia” (1848).^[2] In Transylvania the forms pașașir and pășușer also occur.^[2][3] The adjective has the feminine pasageră and the plurals pasageri, pasagere.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French passager (“passenger; passing”), both as a noun and as an adjective.^[3][4][2][1] The French word comes from Middle French passagier, from passage (“passage, crossing”).^[1] Graur groups it with pasaj and pas in the family of Latin pandō (“to spread out”), through French passer (“to pass”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document of 1847 quoted by N. A. Bogdan: „Pasagerul, la locul 1, plătește 16 lei” “the passenger in first class pays 16 lei”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun meant at first both someone only passing through a place and a traveller on a public conveyance, a coach, ship or train.^[2][4] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has passagerŭ both as an adjective, “not lasting”, and for someone passing through or embarking for a voyage.^[6] Barcianu in 1886 gives German “vorübergehend” for the adjective and “der Reisende” for the noun.^[7] A neuter noun, “passenger ship”, was added later.^[4][8] In Transylvania the forms pașașir and pășușer took on a pejorative sense, “vagrant, good-for-nothing”.^[2][3] The adjective “passing, temporary” is rare, used in contrast to “permanent”.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1847 – pasagerul “the passenger”, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1848 – the variant pasajer.^[2]
• 1870 – passagerŭ as an adjective and noun in Costinescu.^[6]
• 1886 – adjective “transient” and noun “traveller” in Barcianu.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A passenger: someone who travels on a public means of transport; also someone only passing through a place.^[4][3][1]
2. (neuter) A passenger ship.^[4][8]
3. (regional, Transylvania, in the forms pașașir and pășușer) A vagrant, a good-for-nothing.^[3][2]

Adjective

1. (rare) transient, temporary, as opposed to permanent: o durere pasageră “a passing pain”.^[4][2][9]

Related words

• pasaj
• pașaport
• French passager

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. pasager
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 277
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. 779
5. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 66
6. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 257
7. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 460
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. pasager
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 939