reciproc

Forms

reciproc m or n (feminine singular reciprocă, masculine plural reciproci, feminine/neuter plural reciproce)^[1] rețiproc, an old variant: „Convenții rețiproce” “mutual agreements” (1831).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a neologism of the 1830s, borrowed from Latin reciprocus (“moving back and forth, alternating”), borrowed from French réciproque, also borrowed from German reziprok.^[3][4][2] DEX and NODEX name French and Latin,^[5][6] Scriban and Wiktionary French alone.^[7][1] The French word is itself a learned loan of the Latin one, recorded from the 14th century.^[8][9]

The OLD traces the Latin word to a compound built on re- (“back”) and prō- (“forward”);^[10] Wiktionary suggests a phrase meaning “back and forth” with -que (“and”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DLR's earliest quotation is convenții rețiproce “mutual agreements” in a periodical of 1831.^[2] Tiktin's first record is of 1832,^[4] and MDA2's first record is Ioan Sibineanu's book on the comet of 1834, printed at Buda, which speaks of a reciprocal action.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective describes actions and feelings that go both ways; from there it came to mean agreements and obligations that bind the parties equally.^[5][2] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 explains it as “in common; vice versa”,^[11] and Costinescu in 1870 as “mutual”.^[12] The adverbial use, se ajută reciproc “they help each other”, is recorded by Scriban and Tiktin.^[7][4] Grammar, logic and mathematics took it as a term: verb reciproc (Barcianu 1886),^[13] reflexiv reciproc, teoremă reciprocă, ecuație reciprocă.^[5][14]

Timeline

• 1831 – rețiproce “mutual” in a periodical.^[2]
• 1832 – Tiktin's first record.^[4]
• 1834 – in Sibineanu's book on the comet.^[3]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[11]
• 1886 – verb reciproc as a grammatical term.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of actions, phenomena, feelings) Acting on one another, coming from both sides; mutual, reciprocal; by extension binding both parties equally.^[5][3]
2. (logic) propoziții reciproce: propositions whose subject and predicate can change places.^[5]
3. (grammar) reflexiv reciproc: the reflexive form of a verb whose subjects act on one another.^[5][3]
4. (mathematics) teoremă reciprocă (also as a noun, reciprocă): the converse of a theorem;^[14] ecuație reciprocă: an equation that has the inverse of each root as a root too.^[14]

Adverb

1. Mutually, each other: Se respectă reciproc. “They respect each other.”^[5][4]

Related words

• reciprocitate

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. recipróc
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, 668
4. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. recipróc
5. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 928
6. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. reciproc
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1106
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. reciproc
12. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 406
13. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 532
14. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. reciproc