principiu

Forms

principiu n (plural principii)^[1] Older forms were princip, prințip and the feminine principie.^[2][1] Heliade Rădulescu wrote princip: „Creator atotputernic, Princip la toată ființa” “almighty Creator, principle of all being”.^[3]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin principium (“beginning, origin”).^[4][1] The Academy dictionaries name several sources at once, Latin, Italian principio and French principe, and MDA2 and the DLR add German Prinzip;^[2][5][3][4] Tiktin also allows a borrowing through other languages.^[2][5][3][4] That noun is formed on princeps (“first, foremost”) with the suffix -ium.^[6][1] The Italian and French words are themselves borrowed from it.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the word to 1684, from a record published by Mihăescu.^[4] MDA2's first record is an undated text in which the vine is said to feed on „acealeși principiuri sau începuturi” “the same principles or beginnings”: the word still glossed by the native word for “beginning”.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were philosophical: the first cause and source of the physical and moral world, and the basic element of matter.^[3][5] In the 19th century it took the senses of a basic law of a science and a rule of conduct;^[9] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has both, with a avea principiuri “to have principles”.^[9] Chemistry gave principiu activ “active substance”.^[2][5] The sense of a personal conviction appears in om de principii “man of principle” and din principiu “on principle”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1684 – the first record Tiktin gives.^[4]
• 1862 – Pontbriant gives the plural principiuri and the senses beginning, cause, source and rule.^[10]
• 1870 – Costinescu adds the scientific and moral senses.^[9]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it with German Ursprung and Prinzip.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fundamental element, idea or law on which a theory, a political or legal system or a rule of conduct rests;^[2][5] în principiu “in principle, in general”.^[2][5]
2. (plural) The set of basic laws and notions of a discipline; a treatise setting them out.^[2]
3. A primordial element, first cause or starting point; formerly, the element thought to be the origin of the physical world;^[2][5] principiu activ is the substance that gives a plant or animal product its specific character.^[2][5]
4. A personal conviction, one's own point of view: om fără principii “a man without principles”, din principiu “on principle”.^[2]

Word family

• principial

Related words

• Latin principium

Usage notes

The plural is principii; older plurals were principiuri and principie.^[5][10][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 876
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. principiu
4. ^ 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. principiu
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 543
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. principium
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. principio
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. principe
9. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 356
10. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 584
11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 506
12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. principiu