trădător

Forms

trădător m (plural trădători, feminine equivalent trădătoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian trăda + -ător, from the verb “to betray” with the agent suffix.^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu and MDA2 point to the model of Italian traditore (“traitor”), and Scriban derives it from the participle trădat with Italian influence.^[5][3][6] The Italian word is from Latin trāditor (“one who hands over; traitor”), from trādō (“to hand over”).^[7][8][9]

The verb trăda is itself a 19th-century adaptation of the Latin verb, conjugated like da.^[5][3] The DLR also records an obsolete variant traditor, from the Italian word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1793, in Ianache Văcărescu's history of the Ottoman emperors, where the word is an adjective, “treacherous”.^[10][3] This is earlier than MDA2's first record of the verb trăda (1837).^[3] MDA2's own first record of trădător is Polizu's Romanian–German dictionary of 1857.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word names someone who betrays the trust placed in him by siding with the enemy, and more widely someone disloyal or someone who gives away a secret or a plan.^[3][4] Scriban's example is Judas, the betrayer of Christ.^[6] In Negruzzi it is used of infidelity in love: a young man who gives himself to a false and faithless soul „perde toată iluzia” “loses all illusion”.^[4][10] A figurative sense, “revealing someone's thoughts or feelings”, is used of things such as a look or a blush.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1793 – the adjective “treacherous” in Ianache Văcărescu's history of the Ottoman emperors.^[10]
• 1837 – the first record of the verb trăda.^[3]
• 1857 – in Polizu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A traitor: a person who betrays someone's trust by siding with the enemy.^[3][2][1]
2. A person who is disloyal to someone or something, or who gives away a secret or a plan.^[3]
3. A person who is unfaithful in love or in marriage.^[3][4]

Adjective

1. treacherous, perfidious: un plan trădător “a treacherous plan”.^[2][11]
2. (figurative) Revealing what someone thinks or feels.^[3]

Related words

• trăda
• trădare
• Italian traditore

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1141
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1262
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. trădător
5. ^ a b 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. trăda
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1341
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8830
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ 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. trădător
11. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. trădător