splendid

Forms

splendid m or n (feminine singular splendidă, masculine plural splendizi, feminine/neuter plural splendide)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French splendide and directly borrowed from Latin splendidus (“bright, shining”), the double source the Romanian dictionaries give.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary names the French word alone, a learned borrowing of the Latin one;^[1][6][7] Scriban and Negulici gave only the Latin.^[1][6][7] The Latin adjective is formed from splendeō (“to shine”) with the suffix -idus.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of 1848 lists it, from the Latin, as “magnificent, pompous”.^[7] MDA2 dates the first record to Aristia's translation of Plutarch of 1857, and the DLR quotes the same translation for splendide ornamente “splendid ornaments”.^[3][4] The DLR's first quotation is from Heliade-Rădulescu, of a long and splendid cloak.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word meant “bright, shining”, first of the heavenly bodies.^[8] The 19th-century dictionaries still gloss the Romanian word as “full of splendour, shining, magnificent”, and Scriban's examples of 1939 are a splendid sun and day and, figuratively, a splendid palace or feast.^[9][6] In current use it is above all a strong word for “very beautiful, wonderful”.^[2] MDA2 separates the impression made by beauty, by grandeur, by perfect execution, by luxury and by excellence of every kind.^[3]

Timeline

• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[7]
• 1857 – splendide ornamente in Aristia's translation of Plutarch.^[3][4]
• 1870 – Costinescu: “full of splendour, shining, magnificent”.^[9]
• 1875 – Antonescu glosses it with French splendide, brillant.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Very beautiful, wonderful; magnificent, grand: Am văzut un apus splendid deasupra mării.^[2][3]
2. Impressive by luxury and elegance; sumptuous.^[3]
3. Excellent, having every quality to the highest degree.^[3]

Adverb

1. Splendidly, superbly.^[3][11]

Related words

• splendoare

Usage notes

The usual stress is spléndid, with splendíd as an accepted variant; the masculine plural is splendizi.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1042
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 959
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. splendid
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. splendid
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1231
7. ^ a b c d 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. splendid
8. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 545
10. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 294
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 198