prezervativ

Forms

prezervativ m or n (feminine singular prezervativă, masculine plural prezervativi, feminine/neuter plural prezervative)^[1] The word was also written preservativ, after the French, Latin and German spelling: „Mijloacele preservative împotriva molimei venerice” “the preventive means against venereal disease”.^[2] Drăghici has an old plural prezervătivi, -e; older texts also use a feminine noun preservativă.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French préservatif (“preservative; condom”), the source DEX, DN and MDN name.^[4][5][6][1] MDA2 and the DLR give a multiple etymology, adding New Latin praeservativus and German Präservativ to the French.^[3][2] Scriban derived it from the New Latin word alone.^[7]

The French word is formed on préserver (“to preserve, protect”).^[1][8] That verb goes back to Late Latin praeservō (“to observe beforehand”), from servō (“to keep, guard”) and prae-.^[8][9] In German the word meant a remedy against disease from the 17th century and a condom from the 19th.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record MDA2 and the DLR give is an undated instruction quoted by Ursu, where the word is an adjective of remedies, „mijlociri preservative și curative” “preventive and curative means”, and a feminine noun preservativă is used of a remedy for a cattle disease.^[2][3] The first dated quotation, from a text of 1829, uses the noun of an antidote taken against venom: „prezervativul sau antifarmacul” “the preservative or antidote”.^[2] Wiktionary dates the word to the beginning of the 19th century.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Through the 19th century the word was a medical term for any means of preventing a disease, glossed in Romanian as feritoare or apărător de boale “that guards against disease”.^[2] It was also used loosely: in Bolintineanu a man carries champagne everywhere as a preventive against the cold, and Ralea calls the unconscious a safeguard and sentinel that warns how far normal fatigue may go.^[2] Șăineanu's and Scriban's dictionaries still know only this general sense.^[10][7]

The special sense “condom” is the latest; it comes last in the DLR's record, and it is the main sense in the dictionaries of today.^[2][4][6] Slang has many words for it, among them balon, capișon, cauciuc and fluturaș.^[11]

Timeline

• Early 19th century – first records in medical texts, the earliest undated and quoted by Ursu.^[2][3][1]
• 1829 – „prezervativul sau antifarmacul” in a text quoted by the DLR.^[2]
• 1831 – „prezervativ (apărător de boale)”, of four-herb vinegar.^[2]
• 1929 – Șăineanu defines it only as a protective remedy.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) a remedy or other means used to prevent a harm, especially a disease.^[4][3]
2. A condom: a thin elastic sheath, usually of latex, worn during intercourse against venereal disease or as a contraceptive.^[4][3][1]

Adjective

1. (dated) preventive, prophylactic: that serves to prevent a disease or harm.^[3][5][1]

Related words

• prezerva
• French préservatif

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prezervativ
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 532
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 872
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. prezervativ
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. prezervativ
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1046
8. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
9. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
10. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 510
11. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. prezervativ