spionaj

Forms

spionaj n (plural spionaje)^[1] The first record has the older spelling spionagiu: „O picantă istorie de spionagiu” “a spicy tale of espionage”.^[2][3] MDA2 also records a regional variant ispionaj.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French espionnage, and also borrowed from Italian spionaggio: MDA2, NODEX, DLR and Wikționar name both, DEX and DILF give the French word with the Italian for comparison, and Scriban, Ciorănescu and Wiktionary only the French.^{[3][4][2][5][6][7][8][1]} The French noun is formed from espionner (“to spy on”) with the suffix -age.^[1] The Italian word belongs to the family of spia (“spy”), which Nocentini traces to a medieval Germanic loan, Old High German speha (“scouting”).^[9] The Romanian noun spion came from French espion and spione.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and DLR date the first record to 1858, in the newspaper Românul, in the spelling spionagiu.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word names the work of a spy, and Ion Ghica used it of people who practise spying and slander.^[2] In law it is the offence of obtaining state secrets and passing them to another state or organization.^[3][2] A looser sense is snooping, watching someone to find out what they do.^[10][5] In prison slang it is the inmates' watch on the guards, waiting for the moment to break a rule.^[11]

Timeline

• 1858 – spionagiu in Românul, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1929 – Șăineanu defines it as the act of spying and the spy's trade.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. espionage: secretly gathering the military, political or economic secrets of a state to pass them to another.^[5][13][1]
2. Snooping, surveillance: watching someone to learn what they do or plan.^[5][10]
3. (law) The offence of obtaining state secrets and passing them to one's own or another state or organization.^[3]
4. (prison slang) Inmates' watch on the guards.^[11]

Related words

• spion
• spiona

Usage notes

Spi- and -o- are separate syllables.^[5] DN gives the plurals spionaje and spionajuri.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. spionaj
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, 956
4. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. spionaj
5. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1041
6. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. spionaj
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1230
8. ^ a b 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
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. spia
10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 194
11. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. spionaj
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 609
13. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. spionaj