Securitate

See also: securitate

English

Etymology

From Romanian Securitate (from securitate (“security”)), short for Direcţia Generală a Securităţii Poporului (“General Directorate for the Security of the People”), later Departamentul Securităţii Statului (“Department for State Security”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɪkjʊəɹɪˈtɑːteɪ/
(General American) IPA^(key): /sɪkjʊɹɪˈtɑteɪ/

Proper noun

Securitate

(now historical) The official state security and secret police force of Romania under Communist rule. [from 20th c.]
- 1999, Chris Stephen, The Observer, 19 Dec 1999:
  My young interpreter scowls, inserting into her translation her own memories of six-hour queues to buy milk, and of the feared Securitate secret police.
- 2012, John Sweeney, ‘At War with Ceausescu’, Literary Review, issue 399:
  Even our Securitate-approved minders went into a mental coma when we questioned the genius of the Genius of the Carpathians, Nicolae Ceauşescu.

Translations

Finnish: Securitate
German: Securitate f
Polish: Securitate m or n
Romanian: Securitatea f (definite), Departamentul Securității Statului f (definite; official name)