succes

Forms

succes n (plural succese)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French succès, the only source Wiktionary names.^[1] DEX 2009, MDA2 and the DLR also name Latin successus.^[2][3][4] Marcu and Maneca add Italian successo.^[5]

French borrowed the word in 1540 from Latin, where the noun meant “approach, arrival”, “succession of time” and “success”, a noun of action of succēdō (“to go under, follow, succeed”).^[6] The Latin noun is formed from the verb with the suffix -tus.^[7] Graur places it among the Romanian descendants of cēdō (“to go”), with acces, proceda and necesar.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a calendar of 1794, in the plural succesurile: the speaker says she was rewarded by the success of everything she had hoped for.^[3][4] The sense was from the start a favourable outcome.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Iordache Golescu's Condica and Negulici's dictionary of 1848 record the word, and 19th-century writers use it of plans, campaigns and enterprises.^[4] The sense “favourable reception by the public” of a work or a performance came later.^[2][5] Common phrases are cu succes “successfully” and a dori or a ura succes “to wish someone luck”.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1794 – succesurile in a calendar, the first record.^[3][4]
• c. 1832 – recorded in Golescu's Condica.^[4]
• 1848 – recorded by Negulici.^[4]
• 1939 – Scriban defines it as a happy result, luck, achievement.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. success: a good, favourable result of an action or undertaking; reușită, izbândă.^[2][3]
2. The triumph of an idea or a theory.^[3]
3. A favourable reception of a literary work, a show and the like by the public: piesa a avut succes “the play was a success”.^[2][5]

Related words

• French succès
• Latin successus

Usage notes

The plural is succese; the older succesuri and the rare succesii are no longer accepted.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b 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. 1068
3. ^ 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, 1041
4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. succes
5. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. succes
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 30
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1260