prezent

Forms

prezent m or n (feminine singular prezentă, masculine plural prezenți, feminine/neuter plural prezente)^[1] Older and popular forms include the adjective prezinte and prezint, the popular zent and zănt, and the spelling present after French.^[2] Heliade-Rădulescu still used the neuter plural prezentele: „Cine se ocupă despre a asigura prezentele și viitorul omenirii” “whoever takes care to secure the present and the future of mankind”.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praesēns (“present”), as well as borrowed from French présent, with Italian presente as a further model, one of the neologisms with several sources.^[4][2][5][6] Ciorănescu names only French.^[7] The Latin word is the present participle of praesum (“to be in front, preside”), from prae- and sum (“to be”).^[1][8] French had borrowed it from Latin in 1080.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1801, in Micu's history, with the sense “present, being here”.^[5] As a noun meaning “the present time” MDA2 and DLR quote Heliade-Rădulescu.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective means both “being here” and “existing now”.^[4] The noun “the present time” spread in the 19th century: Asachi writes „Că-n virtute stă prezentul și al nostru viitor” “for in virtue lie the present and our future”.^[3] In grammar the noun names the present tense, and prezent istoric is the “historical present”.^[4][2] At roll call Prezent! is the answer “Here!”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1801 – the adjective, in Micu's history.^[5]
• 1822 – prezent “gift”, a separate loan.^[10]
• 19th century – the noun “the present” in Heliade-Rădulescu and Asachi.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Present: being in the same place as the speaker or the place spoken of; existing.^[4][1]
2. Happening now or in the speaker's time; current, contemporary.^[4][2]
3. On one's mind, being thought of at a given moment.^[4]

Noun

1. The present time, the present day; the current situation, and în prezent “at present, now”.^[4][2][1]
2. (grammar) The present tense;^[11] prezent istoric “historical present”, used in narrative for vividness.^[4][2]

Interjection

1. “Here!”: the answer at a roll call.^[4]

Related words

• prezenta
• prezență
• absent
• Latin praesēns

Usage notes

A separate, now obsolete noun prezent “gift”, plural prezenturi, comes from French présent (“gift”) and is recorded from 1822: „După porunca sultanului au primit mare prezenturi” “at the sultan's order they received great gifts” (1829).^{[10][12][2][4]} The French noun is derived from the verb présenter in its old sense “to give”.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 531
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prezent 2
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 872
5. ^ 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. prezent 2
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. prezent
7. ^ 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. prezent
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. praesens
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. présent
10. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. prezent 1
11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. présenter
12. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prezent 1