progres

Forms

progres n (plural progrese)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōgressus (“a going forward”), with Italian progresso and French progrès as further models, the three sources of MDA2 and the DLR.^[2][3] DEX 2009 names the French and the Latin word.^[4] Tiktin gives only the Italian word, which suits the first record of 1699; the dictionaries of neologisms put French first.^[5][6][7]

The Latin noun is formed on prōgredior (“to go forward”) and meant “forward movement, advance”.^[8] French borrowed it in 1546.^[9] Graur puts the Romanian word in the family of gradus (“step”), with congres and regres.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and the DLR quote the first record, a text of 1699: den credința fericitelor tale progresuri “from the faith of your happy progress”.^[5][3] MDA2 dates it the same.^[2] The old plural was progresuri.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word was rare: a document of 1772 wishes the addressee “desired progress” in spiritual and bodily good, and a calendar of 1791 tells of the beginnings and progress of an adventure.^[3] It became common in the 1840s, when the idea of progress was a political watchword: Negulici's vocabulary of 1848 glosses it înaintare “advance”, and Bălcescu planned an article on the idea of progress as a law of history.^[11][12] A face progrese “to make progress” is recorded in the same period.^[3][12] Costinescu in 1870 still listed the spelling progressŭ with the military and astronomical sense of forward movement.^[13] The 19th-century plural progresuri gave way to progrese.^[2]

Timeline

• 1699 – progresuri, the first record.^[5][3]
• 1772 – progres in a document published by Iorga.^[3]
• 1848 – progres “advance” in Negulici's vocabulary.^[11]
• 1870 – progressŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[13]
• 1886 – a face progres în științe in Barcianu's dictionary.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. progress, advance: development along a rising line, from simple to complex, from lower to higher.^[4][2][1]
2. A change for the better through which a goal is reached; in the plural, the gains one makes: A făcut progrese la școală.^[4][12]
3. Forward movement in space or time.^[2][15]

Related words

• regres
• congres
• progresa

Usage notes

The first sense has no plural; the plural progrese belongs to the second.^[4] A face progrese means “to make progress”.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 564
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. progres
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 883
5. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. progres
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. progres
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. progres
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 50
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. progres
12. ^ a b c d Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 594
13. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 367
14. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 510
15. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1060