realiza

Forms

realiza (third-person singular present realizează, past participle realizat), 1st conjugation^[1] The 19th century also wrote it realisa: „Himera ce credeam a realisa” “the chimera I thought I would make real”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French réaliser, as DEX, DLR, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries agree.^{[4][2][3][5][1]} The French verb is formed on real (“actual”) with the suffix -iser; the adjective comes from Latin reālis, from rēs (“thing, fact”).^[1] Within Romanian it can be analysed as real with the suffix -iza.^[1] The sense “to understand, become aware of” follows English realize.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to about 1832, in I. Golescu's manuscript dictionary Condica limbii rumânești.^[3] Tiktin has a record of 1834.^[7] The early sense was to carry out an aim or a plan;^[8] DLR quotes Asachi, on a barbarian who tried to make a sorceress's prophecy come true.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Negulici (1848) still lists it as a neologism, realisare, “to make real and effective, to reach one's aim”.^[8] In the 19th century it meant above all to accomplish or carry out: Filimon, Hasdeu and Maiorescu use it so.^[2] The artistic sense, to create a work of art, and the reflexive “to fulfil oneself”, of a person or an artist, followed.^[4][3] In commerce it came to mean to earn or obtain, to collect the price of goods sold, and rarely to turn into money.^[3] The press of the 1960s and 1970s used it widely for “to produce, manufacture, put together”.^[9] The sense “to understand” is the latest, modelled on English.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – first record, in I. Golescu's Condica limbii rumânești.^[3]
• 1834 – the next dated record.^[7]
• 1848 – realisare in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]
• 1852 – in a calendar of that year.^[2]
• 1960s – the press uses it for “to produce, manufacture”.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To carry out, accomplish; to make real; to reach an aim.^[4][3]
2. (transitive) To create a work of art.^[4] (reflexive) Of a person, especially an artist: to develop fully, to fulfil one's creative powers.^[4][3]
3. (transitive) To obtain, gain or earn something; to collect the price of goods sold.^[4][3]
4. (transitive) To grasp, understand the meaning of something; to form a precise idea of it.^[4][6]

Related words

• real
• realitate
• French réaliser

Usage notes

It is pronounced with the vowels in hiatus, re-a-.^[4][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. realiza
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, 663
4. ^ 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. 925
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. realiza
6. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. realiza
7. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. realiza
8. ^ a b c 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. realisare
9. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. realiza