terorist

Forms

terorist m (plural teroriști, feminine equivalent teroristă)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French terroriste, the source DEX, DN, MDN and DILF give.^[2][3][4][5] MDA2 and the DLR name a second source, borrowed from German Terrorist.^[6][7] Scriban and Wiktionary also relate it to teroare, with the suffix -ist.^[8][1]

The French word is formed from terreur with -iste.^[1] German Terrorismus was borrowed at the end of the 18th century from French terrorisme (1794), a derivative of the same noun in the sense of the Jacobin Terror of 1793–1794.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from 1838: a passage on the French Revolution tells how the National Convention disarmed all the teroriști, the supporters of the regime of terror.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant the partisans of the Jacobin Terror of 1793–1794;^[8][7] Scriban still defines it so in 1939, with the example that the terrorists were overthrown after 9 Thermidor.^[8][7] Costinescu (1870) explains it as an agent or partisan of terrorism, and Barcianu (1886) gives German Wütherich “tyrant” beside Terrorist.^[10][11]

In modern use it names anyone who commits acts of terror, and as an adjective anything that has to do with terrorism.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1838 – teroriștii, the first record.^[7][6]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary as terroristŭ.^[10]
• 1886 – in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A terrorist: a person who commits acts based on terror; a supporter of terorism.^[2][1]
2. A person who terrorizes others.^[6][3]

Adjective

1. Of or relating to terrorism: un atac terorist “a terrorist attack”.^[2][5]

Word family

• teroristă

Related words

• teroare
• terorism
• teroriza

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1121
3. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. terorist
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. terorist
5. ^ 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. terorist
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1207
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. terorist
8. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1314
9. ^ 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 Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 611
11. ^ 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. 642