tarder

Forms

tarder^[1] Old French also had targer (1080, Chanson de Roland) and targier, used until the 16th century and still noted in the 17th.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tardō (“to slow down, be late”), from tardus (“slow, late”).^{[5][6][1][7][8]} Rey instead treats the verb as a borrowing from Latin, which competed with and replaced the popular Old French targier.^[3] That form came from a Vulgar Latin frequentative *tardicō;^[5][3][6] Old Occitan tarzar and some Dauphiné dialect forms point to another form, *tardiō.^[5][3][6] Bloch and Wartburg note that Old French preferred the popular form until the 16th century.^[6]

Cognate with Italian tardare, Occitan tardar, Spanish tardar and Portuguese tardar.^[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) uses it intransitively of a thing that is slow to come about: li setmes [embolismes], quant qu'il tarst.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Chrétien de Troyes (about 1170) it was said of a person slow to decide or act: la pucelle ne tarda plus.^[5] The impersonal construction expressing impatience, mout lor tarde “they long for it”, appears in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1165), with que and the subjunctive by about 1170 and with de and the infinitive by 1664.^[5][3]

The transitive sense “to postpone, defer” (about 1145) lasted into the 17th century before giving way to retarder, and the sense “to be slow in coming” was taken over by s'attarder.^[5][3] The phrase sans tarder is recorded from 1545 according to the DHLF, while the GLLF dates it to Molière (1666).^[3][7][10]

Timeline

• 1119 – Tarder is recorded in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[5]
• c. 1145 – Wace uses it transitively for “to postpone”.^[5]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure has the impersonal mout lor tarde.^[5]
• c. 1170 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it of a person slow to act.^[5]
• 1545 – Sans tarder is recorded.^[3]
• 1549 – Marot uses ne tarder à with an infinitive.^[5]
• 16th century – Targier goes out of use.^[6][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be a long time coming, to be delayed: la lettre tarde.^[11][12]
2. Of a person, to take a long time, to delay before acting: tarder à répondre, sans tarder.^[11][12][13]
3. (impersonal) Il me tarde de + infinitive, il me tarde que + subjunctive: to long to, be impatient for something.^[11][13]

Related words

• tard
• tardif
• attarder
• retard
• Latin tardus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 114b
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
13. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)