Etymology and origin of the Romanian word solid
solid1 solidus, a gold coin
Etymology tree of solid1
Pronunciation
- /soˈlid/[1]
Forms
solid m (plural solizi)[1]
Etymology
The word for the coin is borrowed from Latin solidus, the Roman and Byzantine gold coin.[2][3][4][1] The Latin coin name is the adjective meaning “solid, of the same material throughout”, used as a noun.[5] Wiktionary compares solz “scale”, possibly a doublet.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The DLR quotes the word for a small coin from Codru-Drăgușanu.[3] MDA2 records the sense of the Roman and Byzantine coin only from a dictionary of 1972.[4]
Semantic evolution
Besides the Roman and Byzantine gold coin, the word was used for a small silver or bronze coin of the 17th century, struck in various countries and in the Romanian principalities too.[2][4]
Meanings
Noun
solid2 solid, firm
Etymology tree of solid2
Pronunciation
- /soˈlid/[1]
Forms
solid m or n (feminine singular solidă, masculine plural solizi, feminine/neuter plural solide)[1]
Etymology
The adjective is a 19th-century neologism with two models, borrowed from French solide and directly borrowed from Latin solidus (“dense, firm, whole”).[2][6][7][1] The DLR and MDA2 give only the Latin word.[3][4] The French word is itself a borrowing of 1314 from the Latin adjective.[8] De Vaan derives the Latin word from the root of salvus (“safe, whole”), Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”).[9][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2's first record is Iordache Golescu's manuscript dictionary of about 1832.[4] The DLR then quotes păturile solide “the solid layers” of the earth from 1838 and Asachi's materie solidă sau fluidă “solid or fluid matter”.[3]
Semantic evolution
The first sense is the physical one, a body that keeps its shape, opposed to liquids and gases; in 1848 Negulici defined it as “not fluid, hard, firm” and gave the neuter noun solid “a body with three dimensions” as a term of geometry.[10][3] Early writers often explained it with a native word in brackets, vârtoase (solide).[3] From “hard, firm” come “durable, lasting”, “big, sturdy” of people, and the figurative “sound, reliable”.[2][11][12]
Timeline
- c. 1832 – first record, in Iordache Golescu's dictionary.[4]
- 1838 – păturile solide “the solid layers” of the earth.[3]
- 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, with the geometric noun.[10]
- 1870 – Costinescu gives the figurative sense “real, not vain”.[11]
Meanings
Adjective
- Of a body: keeping its shape and size and resisting deformation, with a compact structure; by extension hard, rigid.[2][4]
- Made to last; durable, sturdy: un pod solid “a solid bridge”.[2][6]
- Big and heavy, or (colloquial, of people) strapping, robust.[2]
- (figurative) Sound, serious; by extension reliable, steady; standing firm against hardship.[2][6]
Noun
Word family
- soliditate
Related words
Usage notes
DEX numbers the coin solid¹ and the adjective solid²; both have the masculine plural solizi.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1032
- ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. solid
- ^ 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, 928
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. solid
- ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. solid
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ 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. solid
- ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 533
- ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1220
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Solid.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/solid. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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