practică

Forms

practică f (plural practici)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Praktik.^[2][3][1] DEX and MDA2 name French pratique as a second source beside the German word.^[2][3][1] The DN traces both to Latin practicus and its Greek model.^[4] Tiktin puts the noun beside the adjective practic.^[5] Ciorănescu derives it from the French word and, for the 18th century, from a Modern Greek word, after Gáldi.^[6]

The German noun is from Medieval Latin practica, from Late Latin practice, from Ancient Greek πρακτική (praktikḗ) (understood: τέχνη (tékhnē)), the art of practical action, a derivative of πρακτικός (praktikós, “active, fit for business”), from πράσσω (prā́ssō, “to do, accomplish”).^[7] The French noun was taken in 1256 from the Christian Latin word, which meant the active life as opposed to contemplation; the Greek word stood in Plato for practical knowledge as opposed to theory.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from the Menaion printed in 1698.^[5] Ion Neculce's chronicle (c. 1743) uses it in a sense now lost, “skill, dexterity”.^[5] MDA2 gives Budai-Deleanu's Țiganiada as its first record.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cihac in 1879 glossed the word as routine and practice, the procedure and style of a deed, and the permission given a ship to land and trade.^[9] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) defines it as the exercise of an art or science, experience and skill.^[10] Costinescu (1870) set it against theory and recorded a pune în practică “to put into practice”.^[11] Șăineanu adds the customs of a country and the outward acts of a cult.^[12]

In the 20th century the word came to name the practical training of students and pupils, as in practică pedagogică and practică de producție.^[2][13] The Marxist sense of human activity that transforms society is defined at length in the dictionaries of the 1950s to 1980s.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 1698 – first record, in the Menaion.^[5]
• c. 1743 – “skill, dexterity” in Ion Neculce's chronicle.^[5]
• 1780 – the separate noun practica “minutes, record”, from Greek.^[15]
• 1848 – listed among the neologisms by Negulici.^[10]
• 1870 – a pune în practică “to put into practice” in Costinescu.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. practice, the act of practising; by extension a habit, custom or routine.^[2][3]
2. Human activity aimed at the material and cultural needs of society; a method tested in real use.^[2] În practică: in reality, concretely, and a pune în practică: to apply a plan or idea.^[2]
3. The exercise of a profession, discipline, science or art;^[2] practică judiciară: the body of court decisions in actual cases.^[2]
4. The application and testing of theoretical knowledge; an internship that a student or pupil does in a factory, school or firm.^[2][4]
5. (chiefly in the plural) the ceremonies and observances of a cult, belief or custom.^[2][12]

Related words

• practic
• practica
• praxis

Usage notes

Old texts also have the variant practecă, and a bookish neuter practicum exists beside it.^[3] The DLR lists as a separate headword an obsolete practica “minutes, record of proceedings”, from Greek πρακτικά (praktiká), recorded from 1780.^[16][15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 859
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, 497
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. practică
5. ^ 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. practică
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 719
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. pratique
9. ^ Cihac, A. de (1879), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane II: Éléments slaves, magyars, turcs, grecs-moderne et albanais, Frankfurt am Main, p. 690
10. ^ 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, p. s.v. practică
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 329
12. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 502
13. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 527
14. ^ Breban, Vasile (1980), Dicționar al limbii române contemporane de uz curent, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 459
15. ^ a b Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 234
16. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. practică