salon

Forms

salon n (plural saloane)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French salon.^[2][3][4][1] DN compares Italian salone.^[5] French borrowed it in 1650 from the Italian word, an augmentative of sala (“hall”), the source of French salle.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DLR's first quotations are Iordache Golescu's Condica limbii rumânești (about 1832) and Curierul românesc of 1830, where envoys go as far as their salon, a reception room.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word came with the Western way of life of the 1830s: Alecu Russo recalled the large room where guests smoked on long divans, which “was not yet called a salon everywhere”.^[4][8] Costinescu in 1870 already gives the plural saloane for “distinguished society” and a picture gallery as a sense.^[9] Later senses are a hall for balls and festivities, an exhibition hall and the exhibition itself, after the Paris Salon, a literary or artistic circle, and a hospital ward.^[2][10][7] MDA2 records an old plural salonuri.^[3] In slang the noun has meant a prison, and as an invariable adjective it praises a decent, reliable person: fii salon! “keep your word, don't be a boor!”.^[11][3]

Timeline

• 1830 – a reception room in Curierul românesc.^[4]
• c. 1832 – in Iordache Golescu's Condica limbii rumânești.^[3][4]
• 1870 – “distinguished society” and a picture gallery in Costinescu.^[9]
• 1886 – “hall, reception room” in Barcianu.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drawing room, living room: a room in a home for receiving guests.^[2][1]
2. A hall for festivities, balls and public celebrations; an exhibition hall for painting or sculpture, and the exhibition itself; a cultural, artistic or society gathering, a salon.^[2][3]
3. A hospital ward, a room with several beds for patients.^[2][10]
4. (slang, of people, invariable) Decent, reliable, someone you can count on.^[11][3]

Related words

• sală
• Italian salone

Usage notes

The phrase de salon describes what belongs to fashionable society.^[3] Vagon-salon is a luxury railway carriage.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 973
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, 750
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. salon
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. salon
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1150
8. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 7
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 461
10. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. salon
11. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. salon
12. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 559