ridicol

Forms

ridicol m or n (feminine singular ridicolă, masculine plural ridicoli, feminine/neuter plural ridicole)^[1] MDA2 and the DLR record the variant ridicul and the old form ridichiul.^[2][3] The DLR quotes the form ridicul in „consecuințe ridicule” “ridiculous consequences”.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian ridicolo or French ridicule, which DEX, Marcu and Wiktionary list together with Latin rīdiculus (“laughable, funny”).^[4][5][1] Tiktin and the DLR give only the French and Italian words,^[6][3] while Marcu and Maneca take it from Latin and compare the French word.^[7] The Latin adjective is formed on rīdeō (“to laugh”) with the suffix -culus.^[8] The French word was borrowed from Latin around 1500,^[9] and the Italian word, recorded from the 15th century, is also a Latin loan.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the adjective to 1833, with the sense “laughable”.^[6] Among the DLR's early quotations is „pretenția ridicolă” “the ridiculous claim” from a calendar of 1835.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first meant “arousing laughter or mockery”, and it was soon used as a neuter noun for what is laughable.^[3][6] Applied to sums and figures it came to mean “tiny, derisory”.^[4][2] MDA2 also records it before de as an intensifying adverb, as in ridicol de mic “ridiculously small”.^[2] French ridicule kept only the sense of involuntary laughter, losing that of “amusing” in the late 17th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 1833 – the adjective “laughable”, the first record.^[6]
• 1835 – „pretenția ridicolă” in a calendar.^[3]
• 1955 – the DLRLC records the neuter noun and the variant ridicul.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. ridiculous, laughable: arousing laughter or mockery.^[4][2][1]
2. (of sums, figures) Very small, insignificant, derisory.^[4][5]
3. (as a neuter noun) What is laughable or absurd, the ridiculous side of something: a cădea în ridicol “to become a laughing stock”.^[4][11]

Related words

• râde

Usage notes

A separate, obsolete Gallicism ridicol (also ridichiul) meant a small drawstring purse in which women kept money and a handkerchief; it comes from French ridicule and occurs in a play of Costache Negruzzi.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 711
3. ^ 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. ridicol
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 955
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. ridicol
6. ^ 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. ridicol
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. ridicol
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 751