dosar

Dosar is a Romanian noun meaning a file, dossier, or folder used to hold documents. It denotes a coherent set of papers or records kept together for reference, administrative processing, or legal proceedings. A dosar can be a physical binder or folder, or a digital collection referred to as a dosar electronic in modern information systems.

Etymology: The word derives from the French dossier, meaning a bundle of documents. It entered Romanian vocabulary in the late 19th or early 20th century, likely through French-influenced bureaucratic and legal language and later became common in general use.

Usage: In law and administration, dosar designates a case file: dosar penal for a criminal file, dosar civil for a civil file, or a dosar de candidatură for an application file. In everyday language, people say "am un dosar cu documente" to indicate a folder containing papers, and the term is used for organizing documents in offices, schools, and institutions.

Digital and related terms: In the digital era, dosar exists alongside fișier, with dosar electronic used for a collection of documents stored or transmitted electronically. While fișier typically refers to a single digital file, dosar tends to imply a curated set or folder structure.

In public discourse, dosar is also used metaphorically to refer to investigative records or compilations of evidence, such as dosare de corupție, highlighting its role as a container of information.