sediu

Forms

sediu n (plural sedii)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian sedio (“seat”).^[2][3][1] MDA2, the DLR, NODEX and Marcu name Latin sedium beside the Italian word.^[4][5][6][7] The Italian word is formed on sedere (“to sit”);^[1] Graur places the Romanian word in the family of Latin sedeō (“to sit”), beside the inherited ședea and the loan asediu.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Titu Maiorescu's parliamentary speeches (1866–1876), where the seat of the interim railway directorate is to be in Bucharest.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense of the place or building where an institution, a company or an organization has its offices.^[2][9] Șăineanu's dictionary names the seat of a court, a government or an administration.^[9] A figurative sense, “centre, focus”, is used for the place where a function or a state is located in the body or the mind, and for a centre from which ideas spread.^[10][4][6] It took the place of the older stoliță and of sălaș in this sense.^[4]

Timeline

• 1866–1876 – sediul “the seat” of a railway directorate in Maiorescu's parliamentary speeches.^[4][5]
• 1871 – Laurian and Massim's Latinist sediu “seat, bench, throne”.^[11]
• 1929 – Șăineanu records the administrative sense.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The headquarters or seat of an institution or organization: the place or building where it has its administration and works: Firma și-a mutat sediul în centrul orașului.^[2][4]
2. (figurative) A centre, a focus: the place where a function or a state is located, or from which ideas and influences spread.^[2][4][6]

Related words

• ședea
• asediu
• reședință

Usage notes

Laurian and Massim's Latinist dictionary of 1871 gives sediu (also siediu) another sense, “a thing to sit on: a bench, a throne”, after Latin sedes and Italian sedia; it did not survive.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 999
3. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. sediu
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 845
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sediu
6. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. sediu
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sediu
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
9. ^ a b c Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 582
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 90
11. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. s.v. sediu