viziune

Forms

viziune f (plural viziuni)^[1] An older form vizione is in Asachi;^[2][3] MDA2 marks it as old and rare.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a neologism with several sources: DEX gives borrowed from French vision, comparing Latin vīsiō;^[4][3][2] MDA2 and the DLR give French and Latin, MDA2 comparing Italian visione.^[4][3][2] Marcu & Maneca compare all three, and Wiktionary calls it a learned borrowing from Latin.^[5][1] The DLR takes the older form vizione from Italian.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Negulici's dictionary of neologisms of 1848 lists it with the sense “apparition, illusion, phantom”.^[6] MDA2's first record, without a date, is in Codru-Drăgușanu, where the provinces of Dacia appear to the writer like visions from the top of the Bucegi.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From the image seen in the mind or in a dream the word went on to mean visual perception and foresight.^[4][3] In the 20th century the sense “way of seeing things, outlook” became common in criticism: the DLR quotes Călinescu, Vianu and Ralea for a realist, poetic or architectonic viziune.^[2][4] In rhetoric it is the use of the present tense for a past event.^[7]

Timeline

• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, “apparition”.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Visual perception; an image, a representation; foresight.^[4][1]
2. A vision, an apparition.^[4][3]
3. A way of seeing or conceiving things; an outlook, an opinion.^[4]

Usage notes

It is pronounced in four syllables, vi-zi-u-ne.^[4] A separate word viziune is a variant of vizuină “burrow”.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. viziune
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. viziune
6. ^ 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. viziune
7. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. viziune