reprezenta

Forms

reprezenta (third-person singular present reprezintă, past participle reprezentat), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French représenter and a learned borrowed from Latin repraesentō (“to bring before one, show, represent”), the double source DEX, MDA2, MDN, DILF and the DLR give.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Tiktin puts the Latin word first, and Wiktionary gives French alone.^[7][1]

The Latin verb is formed on praesentō (“to present”) with the prefix re-.^[8] French borrowed it from Latin about 1175.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a document of 1737 in Stinghe's collection.^[7] The DLR's quotations begin in the press of 1830 and 1848, for staging a play and for depicting something.^[6] MDA2 cites Bălcescu's history of Michael the Brave, in its edition of 1878.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The theatre sense came early: in 1830 a paper announced that some young Romanians would perform a Romanian drama, „se reprezentează... o dramă rumânească”.^[6] By 1848 the verb also meant to depict in art.^[6] Negulici's dictionary of the same year glosses it as a înfățișa “to show” and a ține locul cuiva “to take someone's place”, the sense of acting for another.^[10] The modern dictionaries add the senses “to constitute, to mean”, “to picture to oneself” and a mathematical one.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1737 – a document in Stinghe's collection, the first record.^[7]
• 1830 – se reprezentează “is performed” of a play, in the press.^[6]
• 1848 – representează “depicts” of a piece of furniture, in the press.^[6]
• 1848 – Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[10]
• 1878 – Bălcescu's history in its first edition, MDA2's record.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To have the shape of an object, or to make an object in miniature; to depict or evoke something in painting, drawing or words: tabloul reprezintă un port “the painting shows a harbour”.^[2][11]
2. (transitive) To perform a play on stage before an audience.^[2][3]
3. (transitive) To represent, act on behalf of a person, a community or a state; also, to be the exponent of a current or a school.^[2][3]
4. (transitive) To constitute, to be, to mean: asta reprezintă o problemă “this is a problem”.^[2][12]
5. (reflexive) To recall the image of something perceived before; by extension, to imagine.^[2][4]
6. (mathematics) To express a relation between several quantities.^[2][3]

Related words

• prezenta

Usage notes

The present is reprezint, reprezinți, reprezintă;^[3][2] MDA2 records an old present reprezentez and the old variants reprezanta and reprezinta.^[3][2] Șincai used a form reprezentălui.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 945
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 693
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. reprezenta
5. ^ 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 d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. reprezenta
7. ^ 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. reprezenta
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ 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. reprezenta
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 727
12. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. reprezenta