rival

Forms

rival m (plural rivali)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French rival.^[2][3][4] DEX, MDA2 and the DLR also name Latin rīvālis and German Rival as sources.^[2][3][4] Tiktin adds Italian rivale,^[5] and Wiktionary gives French alone.^[1]

The Latin adjective is formed on rīvus (“brook, channel”) with -ālis.^[1] As a noun it meant one who shares a stream with another, and by transfer a rival, especially in love.^[6] French borrowed it in the 15th century.^[7] Graur lists it with râu “river”, inherited from the same Latin noun.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1795, in a text that the DLR also quotes.^[5] The passage reads: „S-au grăbit a ieși înaintea acestui primejduios rival” “they hurried out to meet this dangerous rival”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The DLR records the word from the late 18th century on in the sense of a competitor for the same office or advantage, often in politics: Bălcescu writes of a vizier dismissed and replaced by his rival.^[4] A rival in love is explained by Costinescu in 1870 as the proper sense of the word.^[9] The adjective rival, used of states or firms, is recorded by Șăineanu and Barcianu.^[4][10] The phrase fără rival means “unequalled”.^[2] An older word for the same idea was râvnaci.^[3]

The abstract noun rivalitate is recorded from about 1832, and the verb rivaliza from 1842; both are from French.^[3]

Timeline

• 1795 – first record, in a text quoted by Tiktin and the DLR.^[5]
• c. 1832 – rivalitate “rivalry”, in Golescu's Condica limbii rumânești.^[3]
• 1842 – rivaliza “to rival”, in Asachi.^[3]
• 1848 – in Negulici's vocabulary of new words.^[11]
• 1870 – Costinescu: a rival in love.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rival: a person who seeks the same position or success as another, in direct competition with them; a concurent, an adversar.^[2][3]
2. A person who seeks the love of the same person as another.^[2][3]
3. A person with merits or talents equal to another's; an equal.^[2]
4. fără rival: without equal, unmatched.^[2][12]

Adjective

1. Competing for the same thing: popoare rivale “rival peoples”.^[3][13]

Related words

• rivalitate
• rivaliza
• râu
• Latin rīvālis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 957
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 716
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. rival
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. rival
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 81
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 447
10. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 551
11. ^ 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. rival
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. rival
13. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 551