tact

Forms

tact m (plural tacts)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin tactus (“a touching, sense of touch”),^[2][3][4][1] the action noun of tangō (“to touch”),^[2][3][5] whose family also gave tangent and tangible.^[2][3] The figurative Latin sense was “influence”.^[3] The adjective tactile was borrowed in 1541 from tactilis.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in Modus et Ratio (dated about 1354 by Rey and the Grand Robert, 1376 by the TLFi), asks whether any man has le tact si soubtil comme l'areigne “so fine a sense of touch as the spider”;^[2][6][3] the TLFi notes that a modern edition reads tast there, and treats the record as isolated.^[2] The word reappears about 1570 in Ambroise Paré's le sentiment du tact.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It first named the sense of touch, which is now usually called toucher, leaving tact to physiology.^[3][7] In the 18th century it took the sense of fine judgment in matters of manners and social usage (Duclos, 1751) and of quick discernment (Montesquieu, 1754, Voltaire, 1769),^[2][3][8] and Diderot's tact moral (1757) led to the modern sense “intuitive delicacy in dealing with people”.^[2][3][7] Bloch and Wartburg date the figurative sense to 1762 and call it peculiar to French.^[4] Etymonline notes that English, which had borrowed tact “sense of touch” from Latin in the 1650s, took the figurative sense by 1804 as a development of the French word.^[9] Tact médical, a doctor's clinical flair, is recorded in 1810, and pêche de tact, fishing by feeling the bite, in 1903.^[2]

Timeline

• 1376 – Modus et Ratio uses it for the sense of touch (about 1354 according to Rey).^[2][3]
• c. 1570 – Ambroise Paré writes le sentiment du tact.^[2][6]
• 1751 – Duclos uses it for fine judgment in social matters.^[2]
• 1757 – Diderot writes of a tact moral.^[2][8]
• 1769 – Voltaire uses it for quick discernment.^[3][10]
• 1804 – English has the figurative sense, taken from French.^[9]
• 1810 – Tact médical is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physiology) The sense of touch that perceives light contact, pressure and traction on the skin and mucous membranes; formerly the sense of touch in general.^[7][11][2]
2. An intuitive, delicate sense of what to say or do in dealing with others; tact, discretion: avoir du tact, manque de tact.^[7][11]
3. (dated) An intuitive grasp or feel for something.^[7]

Related words

• tactile
• tangible
• toucher
• Latin tactus
• English tact

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)