probabil

Forms

probabil m or n (feminine singular probabilă, masculine plural probabili, feminine/neuter plural probabile)^[1] An old form probabile occurs in the press of the 1850s: „carea din zi în zi se face tot mai probabile” “which becomes more probable day by day” (Telegraful, 1854).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin probābilis (“worthy of approval; credible”), partly borrowed from French probable, with Italian probabile as a further model: MDA2 and the DLR give all three, DEX the French and Latin words, and Tiktin New Latin and Italian.^[3][2][4][5] Negulici in 1848 gave only the Latin word, and the neologism dictionaries vary in which source they put first.^[6][7][8]

The Latin adjective is formed from probō (“to test; to approve”) with -bilis.^[9][1] French and Italian took it from Latin in the Middle Ages.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1781, in a work of Micu, with the senses “possible” and, as an adverb, “possibly, probably”.^[5] MDA2 dates it from Brezoianu's agricultural handbook of 1850, where it means “that may happen”: without prudence and steadfastness no success in farming is probable.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) defines it as “seeming to be true”, and Damé still marks it as a neologism in the 1890s.^[6][12] Besides “likely to happen” it means “plausible”, and the adverbial use “probably, very likely” is now the most frequent.^[4][13] Timpul probabil is the weather forecast for the coming days.^[4]

Timeline

• 1781 – the first record, in Micu.^[5]
• 1848 – Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, with Latin probabilis.^[6]
• 1850 – “that may happen”, in Brezoianu's agricultural handbook.^[3][2]
• 1854 – the form probabile in the newspaper Telegraful.^[2]
• 1870 – Costinescu glosses it “having the appearance of truth”.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. likely, that may happen: o ploaie probabilă.^[4] Timpul probabil is the weather forecast.^[4][3]
2. plausible, that may be true, often with mai: explicația cea mai probabilă.^[3][4]

Adverb

1. probably, as far as one can tell; perhaps: Probabil că vine mâine.^[4][13]

Word family

• probabilitate
• improbabil
• probabilmente

Related words

• proba
• Latin probābilis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. probabil
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 555
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 878
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. probabil
6. ^ a b c 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. probabil
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. probabil
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. probabil
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. probābilis
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. probable
11. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli, p. s.v. probabile
12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. probabil
13. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. probabil
14. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 361