picnic

Forms

picnic n (plural picnicuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French pique-nique.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The 1986 dictionary of neologisms gave English picnic as the source and compared the French word;^[6][7] Scriban took it from French and noted that English had it from there.^[6][7] The French word is a compound of pique, from piquer (“to pick”), and nique (“small thing”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Stamati's dictionary of 1851.^[5] MDA2 and the DLR cite Anton Pann's O șezătoare la țară, in the edition of 1853: „Acolo sânt baluri, cluburi, e teatru, e picnic” “there are balls, clubs, there is theatre, there is the picnic”, said of town life.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a meal at which each guest paid or brought his own share, without the open air: so Barcianu in 1886 and Scriban in 1939.^[8][7] The dictionaries from the 1950s on add the open air, and the DLRLC still labelled it a Gallicism.^[9][2]

Timeline

• 1851 – first record, in Stamati's dictionary.^[5]
• 1853 – in Anton Pann's O șezătoare la țară.^[3]
• 1886 – Barcianu's dictionary, with the plural picnice.^[8]
• 1955 – labelled a Gallicism in the DLRLC.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A picnic: a shared meal and party, usually in the open air, to which each participant contributes.^[2][1][3]

Usage notes

The plural is picnicuri;^[2][8][7] Barcianu and Scriban gave picnice.^[2][8][7] DEX 2009 stresses the first syllable and allows picníc, the stress Tiktin gives.^[2][5] MDA2 has a separate adjective picnic “pyknic” in biology, from French pycnique, recorded from 1978.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 814
3. ^ 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, 370
4. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. picnic
5. ^ 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. picnic
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. picnic
7. ^ a b c d e Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 977
8. ^ a b c d Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 475
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 409