radar

Forms

radar n (plural radare)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English radar, with French radar as a second model.^[2][3][4][5] DEX 2009 adds German Radar;^{[2][6][1][7][8]} Marcu and Maneca and Wiktionary name English alone, the DLR and NODEX French alone.^{[2][6][1][7][8]} The English word is an acronym of radio detecting and ranging, “detection and location by radio”.^[6][9] French took it from American English in 1941, the year it was coined.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Academy's dictionary of 1955–1957 already defines it as an apparatus that sends out electromagnetic waves and receives them back from an object, used to detect and locate it, mainly in air and sea navigation.^[10] MDA2's first record is the second edition of Marcu and Maneca's dictionary of neologisms, 1968.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides the apparatus, the word names the detection system it uses.^[3][10] A later sense is radar auto, a portable device that measures the speed of passing vehicles.^[2][5] MDN and NODEX give radiolocator as a synonym.^[4][8]

Timeline

• 1955–1957 – defined in the Academy's dictionary.^[10]
• 1968 – in Marcu and Maneca's dictionary of neologisms, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 2009 – DEX records radar auto, a speed-measuring device.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A radar: an apparatus that emits electromagnetic waves and receives them after they are reflected by an object, so as to detect it and find its position.^[2][3]
2. The detection and location system on which such an apparatus works.^[3][10]
3. radar auto: a portable device that measures the speed of vehicles passing through its field, a speed gun.^[2][5]

Related words

• radiolocator
• radio

Usage notes

DEX 2009 stresses the word rádar and allows radár as well.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 906
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, 616
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
5. ^ a b c Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
6. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
7. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. radar
8. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ 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, 646