volum

Forms

volum n (plural volume)^[1] The first records hesitate between volumen, volumin and volum: „un asemenea volumen (trup) de apă” “such a volume (body) of water” (1832).^[2][3] An old plural volumuri occurs in 1850: „Prețul unui trup în două volumuri” “the price of a set in two volumes”.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French volume, with Latin volūmen (“roll”) as a second model in DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary.^[4][5][1] The DLR has French and Italian volume, Tiktin Latin and Italian.^[2][6] The DLR takes the old form ending in ⟨-en⟩ from Latin and German Volumen, and the one ending in ⟨-in⟩ from volumine.^[2]

The Latin word, “a roll of papyrus, a book”, is a derivative of volvō (“to roll”), literally “a thing rolled up”.^[7][1][8] French took it around 1250 for a roll of writing, then for a bound book and for a part of a work.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR date the first record to 1832, in Albina românească, in the form volumen and the sense of the space a body fills, glossed with the Romanian trup “body”.^[5][2] Tiktin's first record is of 1835, in a geography.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The geometric sense came first, in the textbooks of the 1830s, which explained it with trup and measured it in cubic miles and cubic feet.^[2] The sense “book” is in Negulici (1848), and in 1850 a set în două volumuri.^[3][2] Costinescu (1870) gives both senses and the range of the voice.^[3][2][10] Later senses are the flow of a spring or river, the amount of goods or of an activity, and the loudness of sound, also of an audio signal.^[4][11] Recent press uses mașină de volum “a mass-market car”, after English volume car.^[12] In jocular slang a volum is a bottle of drink.^[13]

Timeline

• 1832 – volumen “volume, space” in Albina românească.^[5][2]
• 1835 – Tiktin's first record, in a geography.^[6]
• 1848 – Negulici has volumin and volum, “size of a body, book”.^[3]
• 1850 – the plural volumuri of the volumes of a book.^[2]
• 1870 – Costinescu gives the size of a body, the range of the voice and a bound book.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The space a body occupies, or the number that measures a three-dimensional quantity: volumul unui cub.^[4][14]
2. The flow of water of a spring, a river or a well.^[4]
3. The amount of economic goods, or the scale of an activity: volumul producției.^[4][14]
4. The strength or loudness of a voice or an instrument, or the level of an audio signal.^[4]
5. A book, bound or paperback, usually of more than ten printer's sheets.^[4] Also one of the books of a work in several parts, a tom.^[4][11]

Related words

• voluminos
• Latin volvō

Usage notes

The plural is volume, and volumuri is old.^[4][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. volum
3. ^ a b c d 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. volum
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1206
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1509
6. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. volum
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1419
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. volume
10. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 709
11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. volum
12. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. volum
13. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. volum
14. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. volum