rapid

Forms

rapid m or n (feminine singular rapidă, masculine plural rapizi, feminine/neuter plural rapide)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French rapide, together with borrowed from Latin rapidus (“tearing along, swift”), the double source the dictionaries give.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Tiktin takes it from Latin by way of the modern languages, and Scriban only from the Latin word;^[6][7][8] DN names only French.^[6][7][8] The French word was itself borrowed from Latin before 1502 and replaced the inherited Old French rade.^[9][1] The Latin adjective is formed on rapiō (“to snatch, carry off”) with -idus, and was said above all of rivers that sweep everything along.^[1]

The same Latin word was inherited as repede, so the two are doublets.^[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a calendar of 1794: „Pronunția sa veni mai rapidă” “his pronunciation became quicker”.^[4][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Heliade-Rădulescu wrote of a “rapid flood”, close to the Latin sense of a sweeping current.^[4] The noun senses are technical: a steep stretch of river, a steep canal joining two levels of a watercourse, and in geology a cataract.^[3][2] Tren rapid, shortened to rapid, names an express train that stops only at the main stations.^[2][7] DN also records the sense “very steep”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1794 – rapidă in a calendar, the first record.^[4][3]
• 1939 – Scriban gives tren rapid and the adverb.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. fast, quick: moving or done with speed;^[2][3][1] tren rapid “express train”.^[2][3][1]
2. (rare) very steep.^[8][5]

Adverb

1. quickly, rapidly: A răspuns rapid la mesaj.^[2][3][1]

Noun

1. An express train.^[2][3]
2. (hydraulics) A canal steeper than the critical slope, joining two stretches of a watercourse at different levels.^[2][3]
3. (geology) A cataract; a stretch of river where the water runs fast.^[2][3]

Related words

• repede
• Latin rapidus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 912
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 624
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. rapid
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. rapid
6. ^ 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. rapid
7. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1087
8. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. rapid
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. rapide
10. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. repede