unic

Forms

unic m or n (feminine singular unică, masculine plural unici, feminine/neuter plural unice)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin ūnicus (“one and only, sole”) and French unique, the two sources that DEX, MDA2 and the DLR name.^[2][3][4][1] Scriban gives only the Latin word, and the neologism dictionaries put French or Latin first.^[5][6][7] Gabinschi classes it as a Latin–Romance loan: the Latin word, reinforced by Italian unico and the French one.^[8]

This adjective is formed from Latin ūnus (“one”) with the suffix -icus.^[9][1] The French word was itself borrowed from the Latin word in the 15th century.^[10] Wiktionary notes that the Romanian word can also be analysed as unu with the suffix -ic.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR date the first record to 1829, in a text that speaks of money placed in the national bank as people's „unica sprijinire” “only support”.^[3][4] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 still lists it among the new words, with Latin unicus and the glosses “single” and “extraordinary”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is numerical: one only, not accompanied by others of its kind, as in fiu unic “only son” and unica fiică “only daughter”, frequent in the DLR's 19th-century quotations from Heliade, Negruzzi and Filimon.^[4][12] From it came the qualitative sense “without equal, incomparable”, which Scriban, Șăineanu and CADE already record.^[5][13][14] NODEX adds the senses “the same for several situations” (soluție unică) and “forming one whole” (front unic).^[15] MDA2 records the set phrase sens unic “one-way traffic”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1829 – first record, unica “the only”.^[3][4]
• 1848 – listed in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.^[11]
• 1852 – the separate popular word unic “one” (from unu) in Anton Pann's Povestea vorbei.^[3][4]
• 1870 – Costinescu glosses it “single; excellent of its kind”, with French unique.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. only, sole: being the one of its kind, with no other beside it: copil unic “only child”, exemplar unic “unique copy”.^[2][3][1]
2. unique, incomparable: having no equal because of exceptional qualities.^[2][7]
3. The same for several cases or forming a single whole: principiu unic “single principle”.^[15]

Related words

• unu
• Latin ūnicus

Usage notes

Sens unic is a one-way street or traffic system.^[3] The usual stress is on the first syllable, únic;^[2][5] uníc also occurs, and Scriban called it a false stress after French.^[2][5] A separate, old and popular word unic, a diminutive of unu “one”, survives in phrases such as nici unicul “not a single one”.^[4][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. 1172
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, 1376
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. unic
5. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1379
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. unic
7. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. unic
8. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 177
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. unic
12. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 583
13. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 679
14. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. unic
15. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. unic
16. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 660