vulnerabil

Forms

vulnerabil m or n (feminine singular vulnerabilă, masculine plural vulnerabili, feminine/neuter plural vulnerabile)^[1] Negulici's vocabulary of 1848, printed in the transitional alphabet, explains it as „care se poate volnà (rănì)” “that can be wounded”.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French vulnérable and Latin vulnerābilis (“liable to be wounded”), the two sources the DEX, MDA2, the DLR and the MDN give.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Wiktionary names only the French word, and Scriban only the Latin one; the NODEX adds Italian vulnerabile.^[1][8][9] The French word was borrowed in 1676 from Late Latin.^[10] The Latin adjective is formed from vulnerō (“to wound”) and -bilis, and the verb comes from vulnus (“wound”).^[11][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Negulici's vocabulary of neologisms of 1848, which explains it as “that can be wounded”.^[4][2] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 gives the same sense, with French vulnérable.^[12]

Semantic evolution

From the physical sense, someone or something that can easily be wounded, the adjective passed to the figurative sense of having weak or faulty points, and so being easy to attack or criticise.^[3][5] The DLR quotes Caragiale for the figurative use: „Vițiurile îi sunt părțile descoperite și vulnerabile” “his vices are his exposed and vulnerable parts”.^[5] Recent use applies it also to people exposed to infection or disease.^[5] The French word itself took its figurative sense in the early 19th century.^[10]

Timeline

• 1848 – in Negulici's vocabulary of neologisms, the first record.^[4][2]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary.^[12]
• 1886 – in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[13]
• 1939 – Scriban derives it from Latin.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can easily be wounded, physically or morally.^[3][4]
2. (figurative) Easy to attack; having weak, faulty or open points: Argumentul lui e vulnerabil.^[3][4]
3. Exposed to the risk of infection or disease.^[5]

Related words

• invulnerabil
• vulnerabilitate
• Latin vulnus

Usage notes

The set phrase punct vulnerabil means someone's weak point, a sensitive spot.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. vulnerabil
3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1209
4. ^ 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, 1521
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. vulnerábil
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. vulnerabil
7. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. vulnerabil
8. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1423
9. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. vulnerabil
10. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. vulnérable
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. uulnerābilis
12. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 711
13. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 699