provizie

Forms

provizie f (plural provizii)^[1] Older texts also have provizion: Molnar's history says the army set out „fără provizion” “without provisions”.^[2][3] The form proviziune was common in the 19th century: Barițiu writes of leading the lancers five or six days „fără pic de proviziune” “without a bit of provisions”.^[2]

Etymology

It is a borrowing with several sources, as the dictionaries give it: borrowed from French provision, with Latin prōvīsiō and German Provision as further models.^[4][5][6] MDA2 and the DLR also name Russian провизия (provizija).^[4][2] Tiktin derives it from the French word, also through an intermediary, and Wiktionary from French alone.^[3][1]

The French noun was borrowed about 1265 from the Latin action noun, formed on the supine of prōvideō (“to foresee, to provide”).^[7] In Late Latin it already meant “a supplying”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a document of 1734 published by Ghibănescu.^[3] The DLR's earliest dated quotation is from Beldiman's translation of Florian's Numa Pompilius (1820), where the speakers have been eight days „fără provizia mâncării” “without a supply of food”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In the early 19th century the word was used mostly of the food and supplies of armies, hospitals and towns, beside the forms provizion and proviziune.^[2] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms (1848) lists provizie and proviziune for the supplies needed to keep a house, a town or an army.^[8] It is now used mostly in the plural, for a stock of food or other goods laid in for some time.^[5][9]

Timeline

• 1734 – first record, in a document published by Ghibănescu.^[3]
• 1820 – provizia mâncării “the food supply” in Beldiman's translation of Florian.^[2][4]
• 1829 – the food supply of the hospitals of the principalities, in the press.^[2]
• 1848 – provizie and proviziune in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stock or reserve of goods, especially food, that someone needs for a certain time; usually in the plural, provisions: Am cumpărat provizii pentru toată iarna.^[5][9]
2. A food reserve for an army.^[9]
3. (figurative) A reserve of something.^[10]

Related words

• French provision
• Latin prōvīsiō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. provizie
3. ^ 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. provizie
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 580
5. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 890
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. provizie
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ 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. provizie
9. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. provizie
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 611