politică

Forms

politică f (plural politici)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin politicus, Modern Greek πολιτική (politikí) or πολιτικός (politikós), French politique or German Politik: the dictionaries treat the noun with the adjective politic and give them several models at once.^[2][3][4] Tiktin divides it by sense: the old senses “politeness” and “ceremony” come from πολιτικόν (politikón), the modern sense “politics” from French.^[5] Gáldi lists “politeness, courtesy” among the Phanariote Greek loans, from the same Greek noun.^[6] Scriban derives the old sense “etiquette” from Russian политика (politika).^[7] The French adjective is from the same Latin word, from Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós, “of citizens, of the state”), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”), from πόλις (pólis, “city, state”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1693.^[5] The first senses were “ceremonial, etiquette, established order” and “politeness”: Gheorgachi's account of the court says the princely meals were kept with this ceremony, and MDA2 and the DLR mark the sense obsolete.^[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Gáldi records “politeness, courtesy” from 1730, in Amiras.^[6] A text of about 1750–1780 quoted by the DLR still uses the word for etiquette, and Anton Pann has cu politică mare “with great ceremony”.^[2] Tiktin's example of the sense “politeness” come from Alecsandri: „Frumoasă politică … vă duceți și mă lăsați în mijlocul drumului” “Fine manners… you go and leave me in the middle of the road”.^[5][2]

The modern sense, the art of governing a state, came with French: Negulici's dictionary of 1848 defines it as the art of governing states and the knowledge of public law.^[9][5] Bălcescu and Russo used it so.^[10] From the state the word passed to the line a government or party follows (politică externă “foreign policy”, politică economică “economic policy”) and, figuratively, to tact and skill in reaching one's ends, a sense that joins the old “politeness”.^[4][2][11] A face politică “to be active in politics” is recorded from 1860.^[2] In Moldova the word also names a forelock on a man's brow.^[12]

Timeline

• 1693 – the first record Tiktin gives.^[5]
• 1730 – “politeness, courtesy” in Amiras.^[6]
• c. 1750–1780 – “etiquette” in a text quoted by the DLR.^[2]
• 1848 – “the art of governing states” in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[9]
• 1860 – a face politică “to take part in politics”.^[2]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it “statecraft, political science, politics” and also “cunning, formality, politeness”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. politics: the science and art of governing a state; the organization and running of a community that keeps order at home and security abroad.^[4][3][1]
2. A policy: the tactics, strategy and means a government, party or group uses to reach its aims, and the ideology behind them: politică externă “foreign policy”.^[4][3]
3. (figurative) Tact, skill or diplomacy in reaching an aim.^[4][13]
4. (obsolete) Ceremonial, etiquette; politeness.^[3][5]
5. (regional, Moldova) A forelock on a man's forehead.^[12]

Related words

• politic
• politician
• politicos
• politicesc

Usage notes

A face politică means to take an active part in public affairs.^[4] The colloquial politica (stressed on the last syllable, plural politicale) “a political question, a piece of political news; a stratagem” is a separate word, from Modern Greek πολιτικά (politiká).^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. politic
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 455
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. 845
5. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. politică
6. ^ a b c Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 233
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1011
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 489
11. ^ 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. 488
12. ^ a b Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. s.v. politică
13. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. politic