tanc

Forms

tanc n (plural tancuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French tank, with German Tank as a second model, both from English.^[2][3] Ciorănescu derives it from French, naming the English word as its source, while MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries give French, German and English tank together, a multiple etymology;^{[4][5][6][7][1]} Wiktionary takes it straight from English.^{[4][5][6][7][1]}

The English word first meant a water reservoir; it came from a language of India, Kluge naming Hindi and Pfeifer Gujarati and Marathi forms.^[8][9][10] Its use for the armoured fighting vehicle began in England in 1915, when the parts were described to the workers as fuel tanks to keep the project secret.^[8][9] French took the military sense in 1916 and German by 1917.^[10][9] Scriban's account, which derives the name from an English engineer, is his own.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is in Cezar Petrescu's novel Întunecare (1928), where a man moves among the others like a tank, in the military sense.^[5][12]

Semantic evolution

The two senses of the English word reached Romanian together: the armoured fighting vehicle and the large container for liquids.^[4][2] Scriban in 1939 already gives both, with the nautical senses of a ship's water reservoir and an oil barge.^[11] The container sense widened to vehicles carrying such a tank, a one-ton mine wagon and a photographic developing tank, and tanc petrolier “oil tanker” is a frequent term in the press of the 1970s and 1980s.^[2][13] From the noun Romanian formed tanchist “tank crewman”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1915 – English tank is first used for the armoured vehicle.^[8]
• 1916 – French tank takes the military sense.^[10]
• 1928 – tanc in Cezar Petrescu's Întunecare, the first Romanian record.^[5]
• 1939 – Scriban records both the vehicle and the reservoir.^[11]
• 1976 – tanc petrolier “oil tanker” in the press.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tank: an armoured fighting vehicle on caterpillar tracks, armed with guns and machine guns, able to cross rough ground;^[2][5][1] tanc amfibiu “amphibious tank”.^[2][5][1]
2. A tank or reservoir of sheet metal or steel for storing or carrying liquids; a vehicle fitted with one;^[2][5] tanc petrolier “oil tanker”.^[2][5]
3. A metal mine wagon holding one tonne.^[2][7]
4. (photography) A plastic developing tank for films.^[2][5]

Word family

• tanchist

Usage notes

Nineteenth-century dictionaries have an unrelated tanc (also țanc) “gauge mark on a vessel; measure”, which Cihac compared with Slavic words for “sign”.^[14][15][16]

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. 1102
3. ^ 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. tanc
4. ^ a b c d Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. tanc
5. ^ 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, 1155
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. tanc
7. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. tanc
8. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
9. ^ a b c Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
10. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1297
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 382
13. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. tanc
14. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 599
15. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 664
16. ^ Cihac, A. de (1879), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane II: Éléments slaves, magyars, turcs, grecs-moderne et albanais, Frankfurt am Main, p. 429