politician

Forms

politician m (plural politicieni, feminine equivalent politiciană)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French politicien.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} The French word is formed on politique with the suffix -ien, as a calque of English politician.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and DLR take the first record from Caragiale, who wrote of the two hostile factions joining forces as the politicians' last effort to keep the privileges of the oligarchy; they quote it from the 1930 edition of his works.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word leaned to the pejorative: Șăineanu defined it as one who speaks and writes about politics out of personal ambition, and Scriban as a political man, “above all a charlatan”.^[7][6] DLRLC gave only this sense, a person who seeks above all his own interests in politics.^[8] Later dictionaries put the neutral sense “political figure, statesman” first and the pejorative one second.^[3][4][9] The derivative politicianism names politics conducted for personal or party interest.^[3]

Timeline

• 1929 – defined by Șăineanu as a politician out of personal ambition.^[7]
• 1930 – the edition of Caragiale's works from which MDA2 and DLR quote the first record.^[2][4]
• 1939 – Scriban's dictionary, with the pejorative sense.^[6]
• 2004 – the feminine politiciană in the press.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A politician: a person active in politics, or one who holds an important role in it; a statesman.^[3][4]
2. (pejorative) A person who uses politics as a means of serving personal interests.^[3][9]

Word family

• politicianism

Related words

• politic
• politică
• French politicien

Usage notes

Besides the plural politicieni, older writers such as Galaction and Sadoveanu used politiciani, now rare.^[4][8] The feminine is politiciană.^[3][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 455
3. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 845
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. politician
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. politician
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1011
7. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 494
8. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 490
9. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. politician
10. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. politician