rezonabil

Forms

rezonabil m or n (feminine singular rezonabilă, masculine plural rezonabili, feminine/neuter plural rezonabile)^[1] Older spelling resonabil: „Un răspuns resonabil” “a reasonable answer”.^[2][3] MDA2 also records a rare variant rezonabl.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French raisonnable (“reasonable”).^{[4][3][5][2][1]} The French word continues Old French resnable, from Late Latin ratiōnābilis, a derivative of Latin ratiō (“reason”).^[1] Romanian has the older Latinate raționabil beside it, from the same Latin source.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Pleșoianu in 1831, with the sense “sensible, reasonable”.^[5] The DLR quotes Pleșoianu for the sense “moderate”: „Tu o iubești c-o dragoste rezonabilă” “you love her with a sensible love”.^[2] MDA2 dates the word only from Negruzzi's writings of 1872.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word first described people who judge and act sensibly, then actions and decisions kept within normal limits.^[2][4] In the 20th century it came to describe prices that match the value of the goods, and by extension prices one can afford.^[2][3] Scriban in 1939 still marked it as a barbarism for raționabil, and the DLRLC of 1955 as a Gallicism.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1831 – first record, in Pleșoianu.^[5]
• 1872 – in Negruzzi's collected writings: „Acei mai rezonabili judecau…” “the more sensible ones judged…”.^[3][2]
• 1939 – Scriban labels it a barbarism.^[6]
• 1955–1957 – the DLRLC labels it a Gallicism and records the sense “fair (of a price)”.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of people) Reasonable, sensible, level-headed.^[4][3][1]
2. (of actions, decisions) Kept within normal limits; moderate, not excessive.^[4][9]
3. (of prices) Fair, matching the value of the goods; by extension, affordable: prețuri rezonabile.^[4][3]

Related words

• raționabil
• rațiune
• French raisonnable

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. rezonabil
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, 707
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 954
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. rezonabil
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1127
7. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 549
8. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 746
9. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. rezonabil