vota

Forms

vota (present votez, third-person singular votează, past participle votat), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French voter (“to vote”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} DLR compares Italian votare.^[4] The French verb was itself borrowed from English vote.^[1]

The noun vot is recorded from 1800–1801 and comes from vōtum and French vote.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from 1830: a report that the king of England had dismissed a general because, as a member of the House of Commons, he „a votat (ș-a dat părerea)” “voted (gave his opinion)” against the ministers.^[4][5][3] The gloss in brackets shows that the word was still new.^[4]

Semantic evolution

DLR's early quotations concern assemblies whose members kept „dritul de a vota” “the right to vote”, and deputies to be sent to Transylvanian assemblies with the right to speak and vote.^[4] Old rivals died out: votarisi, the Transylvanian latinism votiza and the rare voxi.^[4][3] Kogălniceanu asked for every voter to vote by his own conscience, and the transitive senses, to pass a law and to elect someone, became usual.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1830 – a votat “voted”, the first record of the verb.^[4][5][3]
• 1862 – vota “to vote, give one's voice” in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To vote: to give one's opinion by vote on a candidate, a decision or a proposal; a candidate one votes for takes cu: a vota cu cineva.^[2][3][1]
2. To pass a law, a decision or a motion by vote.^[3][9]
3. To elect someone by vote; to give someone one's vote.^[2][3]

Word family

• votare

Related words

• vot

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1207
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1515
4. ^ 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. vota
5. ^ 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. vota
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. vota
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. vot
8. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 787
9. ^ Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. vota