vizită

Forms

vizită f (plural vizite)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French visite (“visit”), as DEX, MDA2, DN and Wiktionary give it.^[2][3][4][1] Scriban compares Italian visita as well.^[5] Tiktin derives it instead from the verb vizita, which he takes from New Latin vīsitō (“to visit”) and French visiter and dates to 1755.^[6][7] The French noun is formed from the French verb.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to 1795, in a text both cite under the same siglum, where the word already means a call paid on someone.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a call at someone's home, out of friendship, courtesy or duty, and by extension the reception of a guest and the time the meeting lasts.^[3] Constantin Negruzzi writes „Nu fac, nu primesc vizite” “I neither pay nor receive visits”.^[6] Specialised senses followed: a doctor's call on a patient, the round of the wards in a hospital, and a periodic medical check, as well as a trip to inspect or get to know a place.^[2][5] Carte de vizită is the visiting card, and also a word puzzle solved by anagramming a given name.^[3][4] Scriban records the colloquial vizită armenească for a visit that goes on too long.^[5]

Recent press usage adds vizită-fulger “lightning visit”, from 1993, and a visit to a web page, after English visit.^[8]

Timeline

• 1795 – the first record, in a text Tiktin and MDA2 cite under the same siglum.^[6][3]
• 1929 – Șăineanu adds the inspection and the doctor's visit.^[9]
• 1993 – vizită-fulger “lightning visit” in the press.^[8]
• 2008 – a press quotation for a visit to a website.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A visit, a call paid on someone at home, out of friendship, courtesy or duty: Mâine mergem în vizită la bunici.^[2][3][1] Carte de vizită: a visiting card.^[2] A fi în vizită cu cineva: to be on visiting terms with someone.^[2]
2. A doctor's call on a patient at home, or a consultation; the doctors' round of the wards of a hospital.^[2] Vizită medicală: a periodic medical checkup.^[2][10]
3. A trip to a place, a region or a site, to get to know it or to inspect it.^[2]
4. A visit to a web page.^[8]

Related words

• vizita
• vizitator
• French visite

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1203
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1500
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. vizită
5. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1412
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. vízită
7. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. vizitá
8. ^ a b c d Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. vízită
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 700
10. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. vizită