tardi

Forms

tardi (adverb; superlative tardissimo).^[2][3] The old form Old Italian tarde is recorded from the 13th to the 15th century.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tardē (“slowly; late”), the adverb of tardus (“slow”), originally an instrumental case form.^[5][6][7][1] Sabatini explains the final /i/ as the ending felt to be typical of adverbs.^[8] The word belongs to Italian, Dalmatian and western Romance: Dalmatian tierd, Friulian tart, French tard, Occitan tard, Catalan tard, Spanish tarde and Portuguese tarde.^[4][6][9] In Spanish and Portuguese it also means “evening”, and Old Italian had that sense too.^[6][9]

De Vaan finds no etymology for tardus: the comparison with Ancient Greek τέρυ (téru, “weak”) and Sanskrit तरुण (táruṇa, “young”) is unconvincing in meaning and impossible in form.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dante's Convivio (1304–1308), in the sense “at a late hour”, the date GRADIT gives;^[5][7] “after the right or agreed time” is in the Commedia (1300–1313).^[5][7] Virgil tells Dante “Nacqui sub Iulio, ancor che fosse tardi” (I was born under Julius, though it was late).^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Latin sense “slowly” lived on in the old language and is now obsolete.^[12][13] Boccaccio used tardi as a noun for “a late hour”, a use that survives in sul tardi “late in the day”.^[4][8] The diminutives tardetto (16th century, Firenzuola) and tardino (1879) are recorded.^[4]

Modern Italian uses it in many set phrases: fare tardi “to be late; to stay up late”, tirare tardi (regional) “to stay up into the small hours”, presto o tardi “sooner or later”, al più tardi “at the latest” and the leave-taking a più tardi “see you later”.^[7][12][3] Proverbs include meglio tardi che mai and chi tardi arriva male alloggia (late arrivals get the worst lodging).^[12][3]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – Dante's Commedia uses it for “after the right time”.^[5]
• 1304–1308 – Dante's Convivio uses it for “at a late hour”.^[5][7]
• 16th century – Agnolo Firenzuola uses the diminutive tardetto.^[4]
• 1879 – The diminutive tardino is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. late, after the expected, agreed or proper time: Il treno è arrivato tardi di mezz'ora.^[7][14][8]
2. At a late hour: Domenica ci siamo alzati tardi.^[7][8][12]
3. (più tardi) later, after a while: Ne parliamo più tardi.^[14][8][3]
4. (obsolete) Slowly.^[12][13]

Word family

• tardino

Related words

• tardo
• tardare
• ritardo
• attardarsi
• Latin tardus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
4. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3720
5. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier