religie

Forms

religie f (plural religii)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French religion, borrowed from Latin religiō (“reverence, religious scruple”), also borrowed from German Religion: DEX, DLR, MDA2 and MDN name all three.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary takes it from French and German, both from Latin, and Tiktin from New Latin, partly through other languages.^[1][6] Marcu and Maneca compare Italian religione as well.^[7] The old variant religiune follows the Latin stem religiōnem, and relege was reshaped after lege “law”.^[6]

The origin of the Latin word has been disputed since antiquity.^[8] Cicero linked it to relegō (“to go over again, reread”), and Kluge and Pfeifer follow this view.^[9][10][11] Lactantius and other Christian authors linked it to religō (“to bind fast”), making religion a bond with God.^[8][11] De Vaan tentatively connects it with ligō (“to bind”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1781.^[6] DLR's first quotation explains the new word by the old one: „relighia adecă credința” “religion, that is, faith”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th and early 19th century the word appeared in many shapes: relighie in Budai-Deleanu, religia in a calendar printed at Buda in 1816, religiune in Asachi and Barițiu, and relege in Negruzzi and in Andrei Mureșanu's poem: „Sînt limba și relegea” “they are the language and the faith”.^[3] Negulici in 1848 defined it as worship, faith in the divinity.^[12] Costinescu in 1870 gave religie and religiune side by side.^[13]

The figurative sense “creed, cult” appears in Bălcescu, who pitied a people that had lost “the religion of its memories”.^[14] With religious teaching in schools the word also became the name of a school subject.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1781 – the first record cited by Tiktin.^[6]
• 1816 – religia cea stăpânitoare “the ruling religion” in a calendar printed at Buda.^[3]
• 1848 – Negulici lists it among the new words.^[12]
• 1870 – Costinescu gives religie and religiune.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A religion: a system of beliefs and rites about the divine that unites those who share it in one spiritual and moral community; a confession, faith.^[2][4]
2. The institutions and organizations of a religion taken together.^[4]
3. (figurative) A creed or cult; something held sacred.^[2][4][5]
4. Religion as a school subject, teaching pupils in the spirit of a given faith.^[2][4]

Related words

• religios
• Latin religio

Usage notes

The variant religiune is old-fashioned;^[15][1] Scriban still put his definition under it.^[15][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 940
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. religie
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 686
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. religie
6. ^ 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. religie
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. religie
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. religion
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 759
11. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
12. ^ 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. religie
13. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 423
14. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 720
15. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1114