popular

Forms

popular m or n (feminine singular populară, masculine plural populari, feminine/neuter plural populare)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French populaire, the source DEX, the DLR, MDA2, MDN and DILF name.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Tiktin says it was modelled on the French word, and Ciorănescu lists it as a French loan among the derivatives of the noun for “people”.^[7][8] Scriban derived it directly from the Latin word, Marcu and Maneca compare it, and Wiktionary names both sources: borrowed from Latin populāris (“of the people”).^[9][10][1]

The French adjective is itself a learned loan from Latin: DHLF dates Old French populeir to the end of the 12th century and the present form to about 1330.^[11] The Latin adjective is formed on populus (“people”) with the suffix -āris.^[12][1] Romanian kept the Latin noun as popor, and an older adjective of the same family, poporan, meant “popular” too.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1837, in a text by Săulescu.^[7] MDA2 and the DLR open with Heliade Rădulescu's remark that in the „versurile populare ale României” “the folk verses of Romania” metre and caesura were strictly kept.^[4][3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 already gives four senses: of the people, belonging to it, beloved by it and well known among it.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The adjective took over both main senses of its French model at once: “of or from the people” and “liked by the people”.^[13][14] In the 19th century it was used of folk poetry and folk language, as in Russo's „limba cînticilor populare” “the language of the folk songs”, and in politics, as in Bălcescu's „elementul popular” “the popular element”.^[3] Barcianu's German equivalents of 1886 are volkstümlich and volksbeliebt.^[15]

After 1945 it entered the names of state institutions, such as sfat popular “people's council” and democrație populară “people's democracy”.^[16] Older synonyms are poporan and, in old and regional use, poporal.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1837 – first record, in a text by Săulescu.^[7]
• 1848 – Negulici defines it as “of the people” and “beloved by the people”.^[13]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it in German as volkstümlich, volksbeliebt.^[15]
• 1953 – partid popular and puterea populară in the newspaper Scînteia.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to or coming from the people; made up of ordinary people: o adunare populară.^[2][3]
2. Created by the people, typical of a people's culture; folk: poezie populară, muzică populară.^[2][4]
3. Made for the people, accessible to all; easy to understand, simple: o conferință populară.^[2][6]
4. Liked by the people, enjoying public favour; by extension well known; also friendly towards everyone: un actor foarte popular.^[2][10]

Word family

• popularitate
• populariza
• nepopular

Related words

• popula
• popor
• poporan
• Latin populus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 850
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. popular
4. ^ 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, 469
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. popular
6. ^ a b Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. popular
7. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. populár
8. ^ a b 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. popor
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1018
10. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. popular
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c 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, p. 320
14. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 496
15. ^ 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. 490
16. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 502