▪ I. Roˈmanian, a.1
[f. Romany3.]
Belonging to the Romany or gipsies.
| 1841 Borrow Zincali II. iii. ii. 104 The curiosity of some learned individuals..induced them to collect many words of the Romanian language, as spoken in Germany, Hungary, and England. 1857 Borrow Romany Rye v, An iron bar, sharp at the bottom, with a kind of arm projecting from the top for..supporting a kettle or cauldron over the fire, and..called in the Romanian language, ‘Kekauviskoe saster’. Ibid. xii, The word for leaf in the Romanian language. |
▪ II. Roˈmanian, a.2
[f. the name Roman-us (c 790) + -ian.]
Romanian letters (see quot.).
| 1894 W. H. Frere Winchester Troper p. xl, The so-called Romanian letters which were devised at St. Gall (perhaps by Romanus himself) to give directions as to singing. |
▪ III. Romanian, n. and a.3
(rəʊˈmeɪnɪən)
Also Roumanian, Rumanian. Cf. Rouman n. and a.
[f. România, f. the native name Român:—L. Roman-us, and -an, -ian.
Until recently Rumanian was the dominant spelling in the twentieth century, but now Romanian is the officially preferred form.]
A. n.
1. A native or inhabitant of Romania (now the Socialist Republic of Romania).
| 1868 Morn. Star 28 Mar., The excellent Roumanians are doing their little best to make religion and constitutional government ridiculous. 1878 Chambers's Encycl. X. 709/1 The choice of the Rumanians fell upon Prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who was proclaimed Prince of R. on April 20, 1866. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 7 Sept. 2/3 Magyars and Roumanians alike have a right to call them by the names which they have borne..for generations. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 312/1 As regards nationality [in Rumania], there are Rumanians, 5,469,036; foreigners, 171,063; and nondescript (principally Jews), 272,241. 1925 N. Iorga Hist. Roumania iii. 35 Anthropology and ethnography do not find the Slav type amongst the Roumanians. 1934 R. W. Seton-Watson Hist. Roumanians i. 9 The Roumanians claim that they are the true descendants of Trajan's colonists. 1935 Huxley & Haddon We Europeans vii. 213 The largest nation in the Balkan peninsula is that of the Jugoslavs.., who are largely separated from their northern brethren by the Magyars and Rumanians. 1956 S. Fischer-Galati Romania i. i. 2 One [theory], proposed by the Romanians, is that most of the inhabitants ‘took to the mountains’ of Transylvania. 1964 Whitaker's Almanack 1965 913/1 By the Treaty of Berlin..the Principality was recognized as an independent State, and part of the Dobrudja (which had been occupied by the Roumanians) was incorporated. 1967 P. Latham Romania iv. 216 The Romanian from ancient times has embellished his surroundings with painting, carving, pottery and weaving. 1969 W. Forwood Romanian Invitation i. 18 Of their wines, Romanians are rightly boastful. 1971 O. Manning Romanian Short Stories p. viii, The more the Romanians change, the more they are themselves. 1973 Howat & Taylor Dict. World Hist. 1313/2 Rumanians expected this to lead to union and autonomy. 1973 Ann. Reg. 1972 123 Possibly the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and the normalization of relations between the two Germanies made the move more acceptable to the Romanians. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XV. 1053/2 The widespread rich folk costumes and the ancient folklore of Romanians..provide a reminder of the country's long traditions. 1974 M. B. Brown Econ. of Imperialism xii. 296 What worries the Roumanians and other underdeveloped countries in the Soviet bloc is precisely the results of the artificial world division of labour in which they have for so long been held. |
2. The language of Romania, a Romance language which has been exposed to many foreign, esp. Slavonic and Greek, influences.
| 1878 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 701/1 Roumanian is not only the national language of the country of that name, but is used by a considerable population in Servia. 1889 Cent. Dict., Rumanian. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 396/2 The urban and most of the rural Vlachs are bilingual, speaking Greek as well as Rumanian. 1925 N. Iorga Hist. Roumania viii. 145 Coresi..began to publish religious works in Roumanian, or in Roumanian and Slavonic. 1933 L. Bloomfield Language xviii. 314 A feature common to both Roumanian and the western Romance languages is presumably guaranteed as Latin. 1948 A. L. Kroeber Anthropol. (rev. ed.) vi. 244 These Greek idioms and structure features recur in Latin-derived Rumanian. 1954 Pei & Gaynor Dict. Linguistics 187 Romanian, a Romance language, the national tongue of Romania, and the native language of approximately 15,000,000 people. 1956 S. Fischer-Galati Romania i. i. 2 The Balkan Kutso-Vlach people speak a language akin to Romanian. 1964 Whitaker's Almanack 1965 913/2 Roumanian is a Romance language with many archaic forms and with admixtures of Slavonic, Turkish, Magyar and French words. 1968 J. Lyons Introd. Theoret. Linguistics v. 204 The so-called ‘postpositive’ articles of Swedish,..Rumanian,..Macedonian, etc. 1969 W. Forwood Romanian Invitation ii. 25 The name Bucharest,..in Romanian Bucureşti, evokes the..days of leisurely railway journey across the Ruritanian map of Europe. 1972 M. L. Samuels Linguistic Evol. vi. 95 Romanian, Bulgarian and Albanian..share a number of features. 1974 K. Katzner Lang. of World (1977) ii. 95 Rumanian, more correctly spelled Romanian, is, as its name suggests, one of the Romance languages. 1975 Language LI. 411 In Rumanian, the polite pronoun..is 3rd person in form. 1976 ‘D. Fletcher’ Don't whistle ‘Macbeth’ 48 None of us spoke Romanian. |
B. adj. Of or pertaining to Romania, its inhabitants, or their language. Romanian stitch = Oriental stitch s.v. Oriental a. 3 c.
| 1860 Universe 8 Dec. 1/2 His projects extend to the formation of a great Roumanian State. 1878 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 513/1 In 1877, the entire Rumanian military force numbered 144,668 men. 1881 Mrs. E. B. Mawer (title), Roumanian Fairy Tales and Legends. 1883 Science II. 114/2 Roumanian ethnology. 1883 R. Torceanu Simplified Gram. Roumanian Lang. p. vii, The Roumanian tongue can claim..attention on more grounds than one. 1885 Mabel Collins Prettiest Woman v, The Roumanian women are very beautiful. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 313/2 The Rumanian Church is autocephalous, but holds the same dogmas as the Orthodox Greek Church. 1925 N. Iorga Hist. Roumania viii. 145 Religious manuscripts..in which the Roumanian text in red letters follows the Slavonic text in ink. 1927 Peake & Fleure Priests & Kings xi. 177 The painted pottery people of the Rumanian plain spread along the foot-hills on the outside of the Carpathians. 1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 10/1 Intergradating one stitch and colour with another, as is possible with Irish stitch..and Roumanian..or satin stitch. 1934 M. Thomas Dict. Embroidery Stitches 177 Roumanian Stitch consists of a long stitch across the shape tied down with a shorter slanting one in the centre. 1938 Oxf. Compan. Mus. 819/2 The Russian development of a national music..served to some extent as an incentive to Rumanian musicians. 1950 Theimer & Campbell Encycl. World Politics 372/1 On 7 October 1940 German troops occupied Rumania to secure Rumanian oil..and agricultural surpluses for Germany. 1956 S. Fischer-Galati Romania i. i. 2 The Romanian nation was formed through the union of the Romans and the native population. 1957 M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 279/1 Rumanian-stitch, series of parallel stitches intersected at center by shorter stitches. 1959 R. N. C. Hunt Books on Communism 37 An exhaustive study by a group of experts on aspects of Roumanian life under Communism. 1967 P. Latham Romania i. 18 The Romanian Black Sea coast faces east. 1968 J. Lyons Introd. Theoret. Linguistics v. 204 It is the criterion of ‘interruptability’ (or ‘insertability’) which distinguishes the English article as more ‘word⁓like’ than the Rumanian or Macedonian article. 1969 W. Forwood Romanian Invitation i. 17 The pleasures of the Romanian kitchen are very special. 1971 O. Manning Romanian Short Stories p. ix, Romanian music is either gypsy music or peasant music. 1973 Times 2 Apr. 6/5 (Advt.), A fine quality Rumanian rug in superb Balkan colours. 1973 Ann. Reg. 1972 122 It was a relatively inward-looking year for the Romanian Communist Government and its leader. 1974 M. B. Brown Econ. of Imperialism xii. 295 In the Roumanian dispute with Comecon, the basis of the Roumanian argument has been one that we have met before. 1976 P. Clabburn Needleworker's Dist. 228/1 Romanian stitch has one cross at a slight angle, romanian couching has several crosses at the same angle. 1979 Records & Recording Aug. 61/2 The distinguished Romanian soprano sings the part quite beautifully. |
Hence Roˈmanianism, Romanian identity, Romanian nationalism.
| 1938 Times 1 Jan. 11/1 The new Government believed..in the spiritual renaissance of Rumanianism through the Christian Church. |