rezervă

Forms

rezervă f (plural rezerve)^[1] MDA2 records the older spelling reservă.^[2] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 prints it in the transitional alphabet as RESERVЪ.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French réserve, according to DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary.^[4][2][1] According to Tiktin it is also borrowed from German Reserve, and Scriban compares Italian riserva and Russian резерв (rezerv).^[5][6] The French noun is a deverbal of réserver (“to reserve”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1813.^[5] MDA2's first record is a text of 1832.^[2] Negulici defined it in 1848 as things kept, put aside for another time.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a stock put aside for later use.^[3] Early 20th-century dictionaries record the military senses: the part of the army called up only in war, and the troops held back in a battle to be sent where the line is weak.^[7][6] Șăineanu also records the abstract senses “discretion, moderation”, as in a bea cu rezervă “to drink in moderation”, and “restriction”, as in a-și face rezervele “to state one's reservations”.^[7]

Twentieth-century dictionaries add the economic and legal terms rezerve de stat “state reserves” and rezervă succesorală “the reserved portion of an estate”, a mineral deposit, a substitute player in sport, and a single or double room in a hospital.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1813 – the first record, according to Tiktin.^[5]
• 1832 – MDA2's first record.^[2]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary, “things put aside for another time”.^[3]
• 1929 – Șăineanu records the military senses and “discretion”.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A reserve, a stock of food, goods, money or materials set aside for later use; also the useful minerals a deposit contains.^[4][2]
2. A single or double room in a hospital.^[4][2]
3. The military reserve: the part of the army made of people who have done their service, called up in war; troops kept back to intervene when needed;^[4][2] ofițer de rezervă “reserve officer”.^[4][2]
4. A person or thing meant to replace another when needed; in sport, a substitute player, and de rezervă “spare”: o roată de rezervă “a spare wheel”.^[4][2]
5. An objection, a doubt, reservation: fără rezervă “without reservation”, sub rezerva “on condition that”; in law, a state's reservation to a treaty.^[4][2]
6. (figurative) Prudence, discretion, reticence; coldness.^[4][2]

Related words

• rezerva
• rezervație
• rezervist

Usage notes

The noun is stressed rezérvă, while rezervă with the stress on the last syllable is the third person singular simple perfect of the verb rezerva “to reserve”.^[1][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 705
3. ^ a b c d 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. rezervă
4. ^ 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. 953
5. ^ 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. rezervă
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1126
7. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 549