practic

Forms

practic m or n (feminine singular practică, masculine plural practici, feminine/neuter plural practice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French pratique and directly borrowed from Latin practicus (“active, effective”), as DEX, the DILF, NODEX and Wiktionary give it.^[2][3][4][1] MDA2 adds Modern Greek πρακτικός (praktikós) and German praktisch, and the DLR also names the German noun Praktik.^[5][6] Tiktin derives it from Greek or Latin, partly through other languages, and Ciorănescu from Latin in the 19th century.^[7][8] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πρακτικός (praktikós, “fit for action, practical”), made on the root of πράσσω (prássō, “to do”).^[1][9][10]

Old Romanian had Greek-shaped forms as well: practicos (“expert”), from Modern Greek, and the adjective practicesc in Dosoftei and Cantemir.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1683, in Dosoftei.^[7] The first quotation in MDA2 and the DLR is from the Istoria Țării Rumânești, where exiles are called „foarte practici ... întru ale domniilor trebi” “very experienced in the affairs of princes”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The old sense was “skilled, experienced” of people, and the feminine practică also meant skill gained by exercise: Neculce wrote of a man who had „practică bună la voroavă” “a good practice in speaking”.^[6][5] Costinescu in 1870 defined it as what leads to action and does not stop at thought; the modern senses are this one, opposed to teoretic, a person with a sense of reality, who knows how to turn knowledge to use; and a thing that is handy and easy to use.^[11][10][2]

As an adverb it means “in a concrete way” and “in fact”, and the press has used it as a sentence adverb since at least 1982: practic, nimic nu s-a schimbat “basically, nothing has changed”.^[5][12][1]

Timeline

• 1683 – in Dosoftei, the first record in Tiktin;^[7] Dosoftei also has practicesc.^[7]
• 1870 – morală practică “practical ethics” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[11]
• 1982 – the adverb “in fact, basically” in the press.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can be carried out or is done in a concrete way; tested and applicable in life, based on practice; concrete, real.^[2][5]
2. Suited to everyday needs; easy to use, handy, convenient or economical: o geantă practică “a handy bag”.^[2][4]
3. Of people: practical, knowing how to manage in everyday life and apply what they know; with a sense of reality; by extension skilful, capable.^[2][5]
4. (obsolete) Of people: skilled, experienced in a field.^[5][6]

Adverb

1. In a concrete way, in reality.^[5]
2. (colloquial) In fact, practically, basically.^[5][12][1]

Word family

• practică
• practicabil
• practica
• nepractic
• practicant
• practician

Related words

• teoretic
• Latin practicus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. 858
3. ^ 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. practic
4. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. practic
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 496
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. practic
7. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. practic
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. practic
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1029
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 330
12. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. practic