respect

Forms

respect n (uncountable)^[1] The first record has the Transylvanian form reșpect: „cu tot vreadnicul reșpect” “with all due respect”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French respect, with Latin respectus (“regard, consideration”), the two sources DEX, the DLR and MDN name.^[4][2][5][1] MDA2 adds Hungarian respektus and German Respekt, and the DLR derives the Transylvanian form reșpect from them.^[3][2] Ciorănescu takes the word from Latin in the 19th century;^[6][7] Tiktin from New Latin, partly through other languages.^[6][7]

The Latin noun first meant “a looking back” and is the action noun of respiciō (“to look back”).^[8][1][9] French borrowed it from Latin in 1287.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2, Tiktin and the DLR begin with Dimitrie Eustatievici's book of letters of 1792, translated from Slavonic, where it ends a letter as a formula of courtesy.^[3][7][2]

Semantic evolution

The early 19th-century writers used it for the esteem owed to someone, and Leon Asachi defined it as the honour one has for a person.^[2] An old plural respecturi served in greetings, “the offering of one's respects”.^[2][3] Negulici (1848) described it as a feeling close to veneration.^[10] Barcianu (1886) still gave the older sense “regard, respect”, as in cu respect la “with regard to”, beside “reverence”.^[11]

Ciorănescu derives the verb respecta from Latin respectō, respectabil from French respectable and respectuos from respectueux.^[6]

Timeline

• 1792 – reșpect in Eustatievici's book of letters, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1829 – the plural respecturi.^[2]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[10]
• 1886 – Barcianu gives the senses “regard” and “reverence”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. respect: an attitude or feeling of esteem and high regard for someone or something, deference, veneration: a ține pe cineva la respect “to keep someone at a distance”, a pune pe cineva la respect “to make someone behave respectfully”.^[4][3][1]
2. (in the plural) Respectful greetings, in the formula respectele mele.^[4][12]

Word family

• respecta
• respectabil
• respectuos

Related words

• aspect
• specie

Usage notes

Scriban gives the verb respecta with the present respect beside respectez, so the form respect is also an old first person of the verb.^[12] MDA2 records the old plural respecturi and the variants reșpect (Transylvanian) and reștept.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. respect
3. ^ 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, 695
4. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 946
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. respect
6. ^ a b c 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. respect
7. ^ 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. respect
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. respectus
9. ^ a b 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. respect
11. ^ 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. 545
12. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1120