sexual

Forms

sexual m or n (feminine singular sexuală, masculine plural sexuali, feminine/neuter plural sexuale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French sexuel, with Latin sexuālis beside it, according to DEX, MDA2, MDN and the DLR;^[2][3][4][5] Scriban gives only the Latin,^[6] and Wiktionary analyses the word as from Romanian sex + -ual.^[1] This adjective is formed from Latin sexus + -ālis, recorded in Caelius Aurelianus.^[1][7] The French word is from the Latin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DLR's first quotation, from a book of 1830, apologizes for the words used of the funcții sexuale “sexual functions”, the book's subject being man in his natural state.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Negulici's dictionary of neologisms explained it in 1848 as what belongs to sex and characterizes it.^[8] Mid-19th-century medical writers spoke of the bold sexual “sexual urge”, and Stamati of the “sexual” system of Linnaeus in botany.^[5] MDA2 lists senses from belonging to a sex to concerning the physiological relations between beings and serving reproduction.^[3]

Timeline

• 1830 – funcțiile sexuale in a book of that year, the first record.^[5][3]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[8]
• 1870 – părți sexuale and calități sexuale in Costinescu's dictionary.^[9]
• 1893–1895 – sexual “sexuel” in Damé's dictionary.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sexual: concerning sex and characteristic of it.^[2][3][1]
2. Seen from the point of view of the relation between the sexes; concerning sexual life, intimate.^[2][3][11]
3. Serving reproduction.^[3]

Related words

• sex

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1010
3. ^ 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, 868
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sexual
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sexual
6. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1192
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. sexualis
8. ^ 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. sexual
9. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 510
10. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. 2, s.v. sexual
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 980