retarder

Forms

retarder^[1] Old French also had retargier, used until the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin retardō (“to delay, hold back”), formed from re- and tardō (“to slow down”) (whence tarder), from tardus (“slow”).^[4][5][6][3] Rey calls it a borrowing; the TLFi derives it from the Latin word without qualification, and Wiktionary calls it inherited.^[4][5][1] Old French also had retargier until the 16th century.^[2][3]

Cognate with Italian ritardare, Occitan retardar and Spanish retardar.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chrétien de Troyes uses it in Erec (about 1170) for “to put off, delay” and, intransitively, “to hesitate, be slow to”.^[5][3][8]

Semantic evolution

Old French took over the Latin sense “to omit, refrain from” as well as the idea of a delay; only the latter survived.^[4] The verb meant “to slow down” in 1275, “to slow a process” in surgery in 1314 and “to make someone late” in 1538.^[5] Intransitively it meant “to be slow, tarry” (1540), until the simple tarder took over that use.^[4]

In 1690 Furetière records retarder une horloge “to set a clock back” and the intransitive “to be late”, said of the moon and tides; in 1694 the Académie uses it of a clock that runs slow, and later of a person whose watch is slow.^[5][4] From 1834 retarder sur meant “to have ideas behind the times”, and familiarly the bare verb came to mean “not to know news everyone knows” (1935).^[4][5]

The English verb retard (late 15th century) is from the French verb and directly from Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for “to put off”.^[5]
• 1275 – Jean de Meun uses it for “to slow down”.^[5]
• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses it of slowing a process.^[5]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records “to make someone late”.^[5]
• 1540 – Intransitive use, “to tarry”.^[5][4]
• 1677 – The noun retard appears.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records retarder une horloge.^[5]
• 1694 – The Académie uses it of a clock that runs slow.^[5]
• 1834 – Sainte-Beuve writes retarder de plusieurs siècles.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make late, delay someone or something: L'orage a retardé tous les trains.^[10][11]
2. To postpone, put off to a later time: retarder son départ d'une semaine.^[7][5]
3. To slow down, hold back someone in an activity.^[10][5]
4. Retarder une montre: to set a watch back.^[10][7]
5. (intransitive) Of a clock, to be slow: Ma montre retarde de cinq minutes.^[11][5]
6. (figurative, familiar) To be behind the times; not to know what everyone knows.^[4][5]

Word family

• retardataire
• retardateur
• retardement
• retard

Related words

• tarder
• tard
• Latin retardō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 115a
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)