spiritual

Forms

spiritual m or n (feminine singular spirituală, masculine plural spirituali, feminine/neuter plural spirituale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French spirituel, as DEX gives it.^[2] MDA2 and DLR name three models, borrowed from Late Latin spīrituālis, Italian spirituale and the French word, and the neologism dictionaries the French and Latin ones.^[3][4][5][6] Tiktin relates it to spirit, and Wiktionary notes that it can be analysed as derived from that noun.^[7][1]

The Latin adjective is derived from spīritus (“breath; spirit”), itself formed on spīrō (“to breathe”).^[1][8] In Imperial Latin it meant “of breathing”, and in the Latin of the Church “spiritual, immaterial”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and DLR date the first record to 1829, in the newspaper Albina românească: „S-au întocmit comisia spirituală seau duhovnicească” “the spiritual or ecclesiastical commission has been set up”.^[3][4] Tiktin dates it to about 1832.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word gathered several senses in the 19th century.^[4] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 gives “incorporeal, having the nature of spirit” and “ingenious, witty”.^[10] Costinescu's of 1870 adds the devotional sense, the opposite of “bodily, worldly”, as in părinte spiritual “spiritual father”, and the Church's power as opposed to the temporal.^[11] The sense “witty, clever” follows French spirituel.^[2][12]

An obsolete sense, “relating to breathing”, recalls the Latin one: DLR quotes părțile spirituali ale pulmonilor “the breathing parts of the lungs” and instrumente de muzică spirituali “wind instruments”.^[4][3] The church sense is now rare in favour of bisericesc and duhovnicesc, though the noun still names a confessor and, mostly in the Catholic Church, the priest who guides the students of a seminary.^[3][13]

Timeline

• 1829 – comisia spirituală in Albina românească, the first record.^[3][4]
• c. 1832 – the first record Tiktin gives.^[7]
• 1848 – Negulici glosses it “incorporeal” and “witty”.^[10]
• 1870 – Costinescu records părinte spiritual and the contrast with “temporal”.^[11]
• 1975 – the noun spiritual, the American religious song, first recorded in the DEX.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to or concerning the spirit; ideal, immaterial; of the soul or the mind, intelectual; by extension, cultural: viața spirituală “spiritual life”.^[2][3][1]
2. witty, clever, quick-minded, with a sense of humour; also of words or looks that show wit: o glumă spirituală “a witty joke”.^[2][14]
3. Of religion or the Church; ecclesiastical, duhovnicesc.^[2][3]

Noun

1. (dated) A duhovnic, a confessor.^[2][3]
2. Mostly in the Catholic Church, a priest who guides and supervises the students of a seminary.^[3][13]

Related words

• spiritualism
• spiritualitate
• spirit
• Latin spīrituālis

Usage notes

DEX has a second word spiritual (spiritual²), a neuter noun pronounced spírituăl, also in the phrase negro spiritual: the religious song of African Americans, one of the sources of jazz.^[2] It is an English word, first recorded in the DEX of 1975.^[2][3] The adjective is pronounced in four syllables, -tu-al.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1041
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. spiritual
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. spiritual
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. spiritual
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. spirituál
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ 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. spiritual
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 544
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 609
13. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1230
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. spiritual