retrage

Forms

retrage (third-person singular present retrage, past participle retras, third-person subjunctive retragă) 3rd conjugation^[1] In the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet the word was written ретраӂе.^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian re- + trage (“to pull, draw”) on the model of French retirer (“to withdraw”), as DEX, DN and MDA2 give it.^[2][3][4] DLR takes it directly from the French verb, and Tiktin names the French verb and Italian retirare as the models.^[5][6] Wiktionary sees French retraire as the model, and MDN names Latin retrahō, again after French.^[1][7]

trage continues Latin trahō (“to draw, drag”), through an Early Medieval Latin form “tragere”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both MDA2 and Tiktin start from a calendar of 1794.^[4][6] The transitive “to draw back” is quoted from a periodical of 1848, of a hand that she no longer thought of withdrawing.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, to pull back a hand or a foot, extended to taking back what was deposited or given (money from a bank, papers from a school), and figuratively to taking back what one said, as in Barițiu's „Eu nu-mi retrag nimic” “I take back nothing”.^[5][2] In 1846 a periodical spoke of someone determined to withdraw his resignation.^[5]

The reflexive a se retrage covers going aside, leaving a room, withdrawing from society or into oneself, an army falling back before the enemy, retiring from a post, and a river going back into its bed.^[4][2] Polizu's dictionary already has the reflexive.^[5]

Timeline

• 1794 – the first record, in a calendar.^[4][6]
• 1846 – a-și retrage demisia “to withdraw one's resignation”.^[5]
• 1848 – “to draw back” a hand.^[5]
• 1893–1895 – Damé glosses it French “retirer, rétracter”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To draw back: Și-a retras mâna.; to take back or withdraw something, such as money from a bank or papers from a school.^[2][9]
2. (reflexive) To give up a trade or occupation, to retire.^[2]
3. (reflexive) To go back or away; of troops, to retreat; to step aside, leave a room, or isolate oneself: S-a retras la țară.^[2][4]
4. (transitive, figurative) To retract what one said.^[2]
5. (reflexive) Of rivers, to go back into the bed after a flood.^[2]
6. (reflexive) Of buses and trams, to go out of service.^[4]

Word family

• retragere
• retras

Related words

• trage
• retracta
• French retirer

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 949
3. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
4. ^ 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, 699
5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. retrage
6. ^ 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. retrage
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. retrage
8. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 735