Etymology and origin of the Romanian word utilizare
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1848 Negulici's dictionary of new words More words from the 19th century
- Ultimate origin
- French utiliser
Etymology tree
From the same root
Forms
utilizare f (plural utilizări)[1] It was also written utilisare: „Utilisarea acestei categorii de izvoare... era o inovație” “the use of this category of sources was an innovation” (Iorga).[2][3]
Etymology
It is formed from Romanian utiliza + -re, the long infinitive of the verb used as a noun.[3][4][2][1] The verb is a loan of French utiliser.[4][3][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
MDA2 dates the word to Negulici's dictionary of 1848, where utilisare heads the entry for the verb, glossed “to make useful, serviceable”.[3][5] The verb itself is first recorded in Pontbriant's dictionary of 1862.[3]
Semantic evolution
Negulici's “making useful” gave way to the sense of the French verb, “using”: the DLR's quotations, from Iorga on, are all about the use of sources, resources or methods.[5][2] It is a learned synonym of folosire and întrebuințare.[2][6]
Timeline
- 1848 – utilisare in Negulici's dictionary.[3][5]
- 1862 – the verb utiliza in Pontbriant's dictionary.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- The act of using something; use, utilization: utilizarea apei în agricultură.[4][2][1]
Related words
- utilizator
- util
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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. utilizare
- ^ 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, 1401
- ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1179
- ^ a b c 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. utilizare
- ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. utilizare
Cite this entry
“Utilizare.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/utilizare. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
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