sport

Forms

sport n (plural sporturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French sport, as DEX, MDN and DILF give it;^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} according to DLR, DN, NODEX and MDA2 it is also borrowed from English sport, so the word may have both sources.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} French borrowed the word from English in 1828, first for horse racing.^[9] The English word is a shortening of disport (“pastime, recreation”), from Old French desport, a noun formed from desporter (“to amuse oneself”).^[9][10] Graur places the word in the family of Latin portō (“to carry”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Romanian record in DLR and MDA2 is in I. L. Caragiale, who speaks of a man incapable of any sport but that of contemplation.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

Șăineanu's dictionary of 1929 still defines it broadly as any open-air exercise or pastime: racing, hunting, gymnastics, fencing, shooting.^[12] Scriban's list of 1939 includes cycling, riding, swimming, skating, motoring and flying.^[10] Modern definitions stress methodical training, rules and competition.^[2]

Set phrases name single sports: sportul alb “tennis”, sportul rege or sportul cu balonul rotund “football” and sportul cu mănuși “boxing”.^[8][13] In school slang the word means physical education.^[14]

Timeline

• 1828 – French borrows sport from English.^[9]
• 1929 – sport “any open-air exercise or pastime” in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[12]
• 1939 – Scriban defines it as physical exercise.^[10]
• 1953 – physical culture and sport called a means of educating the young, in Contemporanul.^[15]
• 1973 – sportul-rege “football” in the press.^[13]
• 2000 – sport extrem “extreme sport” in the press.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. sport: physical activity based on methodical training, rules and competition; each of its regulated forms: sporturi de iarnă “winter sports”.^[2][7]
2. (attributive) Of a sporting kind, sporty: haină sport “sports jacket”.^[2]
3. (figurative) A pastime or pursuit taken up for its own sake.^[8]
4. (colloquial) a practica sportul “to be engaged in shady dealings”.^[8]

Word family

• sportiv

Related words

• French sport

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1042
3. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. sport
4. ^ a b 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. sport
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sport
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. sport
7. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. sport
8. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 962
9. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1233
11. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
12. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 610
13. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. sport
14. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. sport
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 201