scuză

Forms

scuză f (plural scuze)^[1] Old prints spell it scusă: Heliade wrote „Purtarea lui n-are scuse” “his behaviour has no excuse”.^[2][3] MDA2 also records an old variant escuză, spelled escusă.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian scusa, a 19th-century loan, also taken as borrowed from French excuse.^[2][4][1][5] DEX and the dictionary of neologisms give Italian first and compare French;^[6][7] Wikționar names only Italian.^[8][6][7] The Italian noun is a derivative of scusare (“to excuse”), recorded from the 13th century.^[9] It comes from Latin excūsō (“to excuse”), formed with the prefix ex- on causa (“cause”).^[9] The French noun is a deverbal of excuser, from the same Latin verb.^[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is in Heliade Rădulescu's 1847 translation of Byron's Don Juan, in the sense “justification, excuse”.^[2][3] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 glosses it “pardon, forgiveness”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a reason, true or invented, that justifies a fault or lessens it; the second, from the plural, is an apology for a fault or a disturbance.^[8][2] Scriban's examples show both: having no excuse for not coming, and asking pardon for stepping on someone's foot.^[12] Law took it for a circumstance that removes or lessens guilt.^[2] The verb scuza “to excuse” came from Italian and French at the same time.^[4]

Timeline

• 1847 – scuse in Heliade's translation of Byron.^[2][3]
• 1848 – scusă “pardon” in Negulici's dictionary.^[11]
• 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[3]
• 1893–1895 – in Damé's dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An excuse: a real reason or a pretext given to justify or lessen a fault, or to escape an obligation;^[1] n-ai nicio scuză “you have no excuse”.^[8][2]
2. An apology, an expression of regret for a mistake or an offence, usually in the plural: a cere scuze “to apologize”.^[8][2]
3. (law) A circumstance that frees an offender from punishment or reduces his guilt.^[2]

Word family

• scuza

Related words

• scuzabil
• Italian scusa
• French excuse

Usage notes

Scuzele mele “my apologies” is a formula of apology;^[8] a cere, a prezenta or a exprima scuze is “to apologize”, and a primi scuzele cuiva “to accept someone's apology”.^[8] The same spelling is a form of the verb scuza (el se scuză “he apologizes”).^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 836
3. ^ 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. scuză
4. ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. scuză
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. scuză
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. scuză
7. ^ a b c Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 997
9. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b 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. scusă
12. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1181