sistem

Forms

sistem n (plural sisteme or sistemuri)^[1] Older forms are sistimă, recorded by Tiktin in Cantemir, and sistemă, still the headword in Șăineanu's dictionary of 1929.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French système, and before that, in the 18th century, it was taken from the Modern Greek σύστημα (sýstima).^[5][6] MDA2 names several models at once: the Modern Greek word, Latin systēma (in the spelling ⟨systhema⟩), Italian sistema, the French word and German System.^[4] Tiktin gives the Greek or Latin word and the French one.^[2] Wiktionary traces the French word to the Latin one and that to Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma).^[1] The Greek noun is formed on the stem of συνίστημι (sunístēmi, “to put together, unite”).^[7] German took the word from the same Latin source in the 16th century.^[8]

The older Romanian form sistimă reflects the Modern Greek pronunciation;^[6][5] Gáldi records it with the sense “assembly” from 1787.^[6][5] The Aromanian cognate sistimă means “habit, custom” and comes from Greek.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică of 1705, with the Greek-shaped form sistimă.^[2] MDA2 dates its first record to before 1774, in a document of the Uricariul collection.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th and early 19th centuries the Greek form sistimă was used, at times in the sense “assembly”.^[6] The form sistemă, and then sistem, carries the abstract senses of today: a set of interdependent elements forming an organized whole, a doctrine, a method of classification.^[3][10] Șăineanu's examples include sistemă nervoasă “nervous system”, sistemă planetară and sistemă metrică.^[3]

The scientific senses followed: a group of organs in anatomy, a set of interacting elements in biology, the strata of one period in geology.^[11][12] The plural is sisteme, with sistemuri beside it.^[1]

Timeline

• 1705 – sistimă in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică, the first record.^[2]
• before 1774 – a record in the Uricariul collection of documents.^[4]
• 1787 – sistimă “assembly”, the Greek loan.^[6]
• 1929 – sistemă as a headword, with the senses “whole of coordinated parts”, “doctrine” and “method”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A system: a set of interdependent elements (principles, rules, forces) forming an organized whole, which orders a field of thought, a classification or a practical activity: sistem informațional “information system”.^[10][4]
2. A method or way of working, the organization of a process; a norm or habit: sistemul Braille.^[10]
3. (anatomy) A group of organs or structures forming a functional unit: sistemul nervos.^[11]
4. (geology) The deposits formed during one geological period.^[10]
5. (chiefly in the definite form) Sistemul: the political establishment of post-1989 Romania, associated with corruption and clientelism.^[1]

Related words

• sistematic
• sistematician
• sistematiza
• sistematizare
• sistematizat
• Aromanian sistimă
• Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma)

Usage notes

The plural sistemuri exists beside the usual sisteme.^[1] Derivatives such as sistematic and sistematiza were borrowed from French rather than formed in Romanian.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. sistem
3. ^ a b c d Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 595
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 902
5. ^ a b c d 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. sistem
6. ^ a b c d e Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 254
7. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 1441
8. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 902
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 953
10. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1024
11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. sistem
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sistem