stabil

Forms

stabil m or n (feminine singular stabilă, masculine plural stabili, feminine/neuter plural stabile)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowed from Latin stabilis (“standing firm, steady”).^[2][1][3] MDA2, the DLR, NODEX and the neologism dictionaries add borrowed from Italian stabile as a second source.^[4][5][6][7] Gabinschi calls it an international word of Latin origin, taken with Italian, German stabil and Russian стабильный (stabilʹnyj) as models.^[8] Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed in Romanian as sta with the suffix -bil.^[1]

The Latin adjective is formed on stō (“to stand”) with the suffix -bilis.^[9][1] The Italian word, itself a Latin loan, is recorded from the late 13th century.^[10][11] Graur lists the word in the Latin family of the verb a sta, beside staul, stație and statură.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Paul Iorgovici's Observații de limba rumânească of 1799, which explains the word as „ce poate sta neclătit” “what can stand unshaken”.^[4][5] Iorgovici wrote the form stabile, which MDA2 lists as a rare variant.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is physical: a building, bridge or object that is firmly set and does not wobble or move.^[5][4] Costinescu in 1870 and Barcianu in 1886 give it as “firm, lasting”, with stablu as a second form in Costinescu.^[13][14] It is also said of settlements and dwellings, of populations that live in one place, in opposition to nomadic ones, and in chemistry of substances that do not decompose by themselves.^[5][2] The abstract sense “unchanging, firm” is quoted from Aristia's translation of Plutarch.^[5] A regional phrase from Botoșani county, vinchi stabil, names a carpenter's try square.^[5][4]

Scriban stressed the word stábil after Latin and judged the usual stress stabíl to be wrong.^[3]

Timeline

• 1799 – stabile “what can stand unshaken” in Iorgovici's Observații, the first record.^[4][5]
• 1870 – stabil, stablu “firm, durable” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[13]
• 1886 – glossed “firm, lasting” in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[14]
• 1929 – Șăineanu gives the senses “steady” and, figuratively, “durable”.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Firmly set or fixed, so that it does not tip over or wobble; solid.^[2][4]
2. Not changing or fluctuating; steady, firm: o monedă stabilă “a stable currency”.^[2][16]
3. Of substances, that does not decompose by itself or only with difficulty in a reaction.^[2]
4. Of populations, living permanently in the same place; sedentar.^[2][7]

Related words

• sta
• stabili
• staul
• Latin stabilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1044
3. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1235
4. ^ 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, 968
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. stabil
6. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. stabil
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. stabil
8. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 164
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
13. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 549
14. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 604
15. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 611
16. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 214