spion

Forms

spion m (plural spioni)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian spione, with French espion and German Spion as further models: MDA2 and the DLR name the three languages, DEX German and Italian, DN Italian, and Tiktin Italian through several intermediaries.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} Ciorănescu gives French and Italian and takes the popular variant șpion from German;^[7][8] Scriban took the variant from Russian.^[7][8]

The Italian word is an augmentative of spia (“spy”), a medieval loan from Germanic, related to German spähen (“to watch, peer”).^[9][10] The Italian word also reached the other Balkan languages: Aromanian spion, Modern Greek σπιούνος (spiúnos) and Albanian spiun.^[7][11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is of 1767, in a document published by Iorga.^[6] MDA2 and the DLR begin with a text of 1788 that explains the native word by the new one: „Pedeapsa iscoadelor (spionilor) este hotărâtă în pravilele oștenești” “the punishment of scouts (spies) is laid down in the military laws”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The native words it displaced are iscoadă, limbă and privitor, with the regional verbuncaș and the Turkish loan cearșit.^[3] Șincai used it in his chronicle: „Spionii cei prefăcuți” “the disguised spies”.^[6] In 1825 the Lexicon de la Buda glossed spionu with Latin explorator and speculator and gave French as its source.^[13] A feminine spioană was formed in Romanian.^[4][8]

The word was later given to things that watch: a slanting mirror outside a window or a small lens in a door, through which one sees without being seen, and a steel gauge for measuring the play between two machine parts.^[5][4] In criminals' slang it is a safety pin or a V-shaped tool for forcing a lock with the key inside.^[14]

Timeline

• 1767 – in a document published by Iorga, the first record.^[6]
• 1788 – spionilor explaining iscoadelor in a law text.^[2][3]
• early 19th century – spionii in Șincai's chronicle.^[6]
• 1825 – spionu in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[13]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary, with French espion.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spy: a person who secretly gathers information about a state and passes it to another; iscoadă.^[4][2][1]
2. A person who watches others in order to report on them.^[4]
3. A steel feeler gauge of varying thickness, used to check the gap between two assembled parts.^[4]
4. A slanting mirror outside a window, or a peephole lens in a door, through which one can look out unseen.^[5]
5. (slang) A safety pin; a V-shaped tool for forcing a locked door.^[14]

Word family

• spiona
• spionaj

Related words

• iscoadă
• Aromanian spion

Usage notes

A popular variant is șpion.^[2][7][5] The word is pronounced in two syllables, spi-on.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 956
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. spion
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1040
5. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. spion
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. spion
7. ^ 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. spion
8. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1230
9. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 868
10. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 967
12. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 1372
13. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 662
14. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. spion
15. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 544