volan

Forms

volan n (plural volane)^[1] The older plural was volanuri, and the form volant is used for the flywheel of an engine.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French volant.^{[3][4][2][5][1]} The French word is the present participle of voler (“to fly”), used as an adjective and a noun.^[6][7] The DLR compares German Volant.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the dress sense: in Negruzzi's writings the German women are outshone by the crinolines and volanele “flounces” of the Parisian women.^[5][2] MDA2 dates it by the 1872 edition of the writings.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first named a strip of gathered or pleated fabric sewn on dresses and curtains, and Damé glosses it with French volant (de jupe).^[5][8] Șăineanu (1929) also has the shuttlecock game, played with a racket, and the steering wheel of a vehicle.^[9] Scriban (1939) gives the dress trimming and the steering wheel of the car.^[6]

In technical use the word also names any hand wheel that works a machine, and, as volant, the heavy flywheel on an engine shaft and a carding drum in textile machines.^[2][4] By extension it can stand for driving itself.^[2] DLRLC treats the dress sense and the wheel as two headwords.^[10]

Timeline

• 1872 – volane “flounces” in the edition of Negruzzi's writings (Negruzzi died in 1868).^[2][5]
• 1893 – Damé glosses it as a flounce of a skirt.^[8]
• 1929 – Șăineanu records the shuttlecock game and the steering wheel.^[9]
• 1939 – Scriban defines it as the steering wheel of the car.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A steering wheel: the round part with which a vehicle is steered.^[4][11]
2. A handwheel that works a mechanism of a machine.^[4][2]
3. A flounce or frill: a strip of fabric or lace, gathered or pleated, used as trimming on clothes, curtains or covers.^[4][2]
4. (by extension) Driving, motoring: la volan “at the wheel”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1507
3. ^ 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. volan
4. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1205
5. ^ 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. volan
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1418
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. volan
9. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 701
10. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 694
11. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. volan