profesie

Forms

profesie f (plural profesii)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French profession.^[2][3][1] DN and MDN also name Latin professiō, Scriban gives the Latin word alone, and Tiktin names Italian professione beside the French word.^[4][5][6][7] The French word was borrowed from the same Latin noun, “public declaration”, formed on the supine of profiteor (“to declare openly”).^[8]

Romanian has two forms of the word: this one, the headword of DEX, and the older profesiune, which MDA2, the DLR and Tiktin take as their headword.^[2][3][9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates profesiune to 1801, in Micu's history.^[7] The short form appears in 1827, in the Golescu translation of a book of moral philosophy: „fiecare la profesia sa și la starea ce are” “each to his profession and the station he has”.^[10][3]

Semantic evolution

The early records already have the sense “trade, calling”: an 1830 newspaper advertises a midwife accomplished in her profession.^[10] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 lists professie with Latin professio and explains it as meserie.^[11] The phrase profesiune de credință is “a public statement of one's principles”;^[7][2][8] Tiktin records it.^[7][2][8] Scriban (1939) notes that the word was said mainly of the higher occupations, such as teaching, medicine, law and engineering, and that a face profesiune de meant “to make a show of”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1801 – profesiune in Micu's history.^[7]
• 1827 – profesia in the Golescu translation of Vamva's moral philosophy.^[10][3]
• 1830 – in a newspaper advertisement.^[10]
• 1848 – professie in Negulici's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A profession, an occupation carried on permanently on the basis of a qualification; the knowledge and skills that make up that training; meserie.^[2][3][1]
2. Profesie de credință (also profesiune de credință): a public statement of one's principles or convictions.^[2][3]

Related words

• profesor
• profesional

Usage notes

De profesie means “by profession, professional”: un pianist de profesie.^[3][6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 881
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, 561
4. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. profesiune
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. profesiune
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1059
7. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. profesiúne
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. profesie
10. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. profesiune
11. ^ a b 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. professie