spirit

Forms

spirit n (plural spirite)^[1] Negulici's vocabulary of 1848 prints it in the transitional alphabet as spirrit, glossed with duh.^[2] Old and regional variants are spirt and sprit; an old plural spirituri occurs beside spirite.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin spīritus (“breath, spirit”), a learned loan of the 19th century.^[5][1] MDA2 and the DLR add French esprit and German Spiritus as models,^[3][6] and Tiktin names the Latin word together with Italian spirito and French.^[7] Ciorănescu takes the sense “witticism” from mot d'esprit.^[5] The Latin noun is formed on spīrō (“to breathe, to blow”) with the suffix -tus.^[8][1] Scriban compares the Romanian pair suflet and sufla.^[9]

The same Latin word reached Romanian twice more: spiriduș “imp, goblin”, with a Hungarian pronunciation according to Tiktin, and spirt “alcohol”, from Italian, which has spread through the Balkans.^[5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Șincai, about 1805.^[7] MDA2 dates the word to Budai-Deleanu's Romanian–German lexicon of 1818, which the DLR cites for the chemical phrase spirit de vin “spirit of wine”, a calque of French esprit de vin.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The oldest senses follow the Latin closely: “air, breeze, breath”, and in chemistry “spirit of wine” and “ferment”.^[3][6] The religious and philosophical senses came with them: the immaterial principle opposed to matter, the Holy Spirit (Sfântul Spirit, beside the older Sfântul Duh), angels and demons.^[3][4] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has a-și da spiritul “to die”, after French rendre l'esprit.^[4] Under French influence the word came to mean the mind and its quickness, a turn of mind (spiritul legilor “the spirit of the laws”) and a joke: a face spirite “to crack jokes”.^[9][11] In grammar it names the breathing mark of Greek writing.^[11][9] Spiritism, spiritual and spiritualism were borrowed from French as a family of their own.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1805 – first record, in Șincai.^[7]
• 1818 – spirit de vin “spirit of wine” in Budai-Deleanu's lexicon.^[3][6]
• 1848 – listed among the neologisms in Negulici's vocabulary.^[2]
• 1870 – a-și da spiritul “to die” and Sântul spirit “the Holy Spirit” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The mind, consciousness and reason, as opposed to matter; also quickness of mind and imagination: om de spirit “a witty person”.^[12]
2. (religion, philosophy) An immaterial principle or being; a ghost or apparition.^[12][3]
3. A person seen in terms of intellect or character: spirit universal “a universal mind”.^[12]
4. (in the plural) People as bearers of ideas; public opinion.^[12]
5. A way of thinking shared by a group;^[12][13] în spiritul… “in keeping with…”.^[12][13]
6. The specific character or real sense of something: spiritul legii “the spirit of the law”.^[11][9]
7. A joke or witticism: a face spirite “to crack jokes”.^[11][13]
8. A breathing mark in Greek writing.^[11]
9. (obsolete) Spirit of wine, alcohol.^[3][6]

Word family

• spiritism
• spiritist
• spiritual
• spiritualism
• spiritualist
• spiritualitate
• spiritualiza

Related words

• spiriduș
• spirt
• duh
• Latin spīritus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. spirit
3. ^ 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, 957
4. ^ a b c d Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 544
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. spirit
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. spirit
7. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. spirit
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1230
10. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 162
11. ^ a b c d e Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. spirit
12. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1041
13. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. spirit