tehnic

Forms

tehnic m or n (feminine singular tehnică, masculine plural tehnici, feminine/neuter plural tehnice)^[1] MDA2 records the old spellings tecnic and technic;^[2][3] Scriban gives técnic beside téhnic.^[2][3] Maiorescu wrote of termenii technici “the technical terms”.^[4]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing with several sources: DEX and Wiktionary give borrowed from French technique alone,^[5][1] while MDA2 and the DLR also name Latin technicus and German technisch, with Technik.^[2][4] Tiktin derives it from the Greek and Latin word.^[6] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek τεχνικός (tekhnikós, “skilful, of an art”), from τέχνη (tékhnē, “art, craft, skill”).^[7][3][8][1] The French word was borrowed from the Latin one in 1684.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to 1829, in a periodical cited as CR.^[6][2] The DLR's next records come from Heliade, Laurian and other 19th-century writers, in the general sense “of technique, relating to an art or craft”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Early dictionaries give it the sense “proper to an art”, chiefly in termen tehnic “technical term”.^[9][4] Scriban (1939) adds “of engineering” (școală tehnică), the noun “technician” and the adverb.^[3] In the 20th century the adjective followed the growth of technology: progres tehnic, desen tehnic “technical drawing”, and “dealing with the strictly specialised side of a trade or science”.^[4][5]

Romanian also had the synonyms tehnicesc and tehnologicesc, now obsolete.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1829 – first record, in a periodical (CR).^[6][2]
• 1886 – in Barcianu's dictionary.^[4]
• 1929 – Șăineanu: “proper to an art”, termen tehnic.^[9]
• 1939 – Scriban records the adverb and the noun “technician”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. technical: belonging or relating to technique and technology: progres tehnic;^[5][2][1] desen tehnic “technical drawing”;^[5][2][1] termen tehnic “technical term”.^[5][2][1]
2. Dealing with the strictly specialised side of a trade, a science or a service: serviciul tehnic.^[5][2]

Adverb

1. technically, in a technical way: a vorbi prea tehnic “to speak too technically”.^[3][1]

Related words

• tehnică
• tehnician
• tehnologie

Usage notes

DEX treats the feminine noun tehnică under this word: the methods and rules applied in a trade or profession, and in the army tehnică de luptă, the whole of an army's combat equipment.^[5] A separate, now obsolete masculine noun tehnic “technician”, from German Techniker, is recorded in Caragiale.^[4][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1189
3. ^ a b c d e f Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1306
4. ^ 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. tehnic
5. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1112
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. tehnic
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 645