privat

Forms

privat m or n (feminine singular privată, masculine plural privați, feminine/neuter plural private)^[1] In the sense “privy” a regional form privadă (plural privăzi or privezi) is also used.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prīvātus (“private, personal”), partly by way of French privé.^[4][3] DEX, MDN and Tiktin name French and Latin, Scriban and DN give Latin, MDA2 adds German privat, and Wiktionary adds Italian privato.^{[4][5][3][6][7][2][1]}

The Latin adjective is the past participle of prīvō (“to deprive; to set apart”).^[1][8] The feminine noun meaning “privy” matches Romance words for a privy, such as Old French privée and Spanish privada, originally “secret room”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the September Menaion of 1698.^[3] MDA2 and the DLR cite Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică (1705) first.^[2][10] Later quotations use it of a private person and of a ruler's private treasury.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, a learned word, means belonging to an individual, not to the state or the public: om privat “private person”, viața privată “private life”.^[10][6] MDA2 also records an old sense “different”.^[2] In popular speech the feminine privată became a noun meaning “privy, lavatory”.^[4][3] Regionally privadă also names a figure in the children's string game.^[2]

Timeline

• 1698 – the first record, in the September Menaion.^[3]
• 1705 – private in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[2][10]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses om privat as “private man”.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. private, particular, individual: belonging to a person rather than the state or the public.^[4][2][1]
2. (dated) Different.^[2]

Noun

1. (popular, feminine privată) A privy, lavatory.^[4][3]

Related words

• priva
• public

Usage notes

Privat is not the participle of priva “to deprive”, though Latin prīvātus was.^[4][1] Set phrases include proprietate privată “private property” and viața privată “private life”.^[12][10]

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, 551
3. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. privat
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 877
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. privat
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1054
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. privat
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6761
10. ^ 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. privat
11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 508
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 582