taceo

Forms

taceō (present infinitive tacēre, perfect active tacuī, supine tacitum); second conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *takē- (“to be silent”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tHk-eh₁- (“to be silent”) (Wiktionary: ⟨*teh₂k-⟩).^[2][1] De Vaan rejects the view of LIV and Klingenschmitt that the Latin and Germanic words belong with Ancient Greek πτήσσω (ptḗssō, “to cower”); the Greek and Armenian words mean something else and go better with ⟨*pet-⟩ “to fall”.^[2]

Cognate with Umbrian tases (“tacit”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (þahan, “to be silent”), Old Norse þegja and Old High German dagēn.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius,^[2] who has quid sī taceās?, “what if you kept quiet?”.^[3] Plautus has quid nunc tacēs? tēcum loquor, “why are you silent now? I'm talking to you”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Tacēre is “to be silent, say nothing”, “to stop speaking”, and of things “to be silent, still” (Catullus: cum tacet nox, “when the night is still”).^[3][4][1] Transitively it is “to keep quiet about, pass over in silence” (Plautus: tacēre nequeō sōlus quod sciō, “I can't keep to myself what I know”).^[3][1] Its past participle is tacitus.^[1]

Döderlein contrasts silēre, to be still as opposed to making noise, with tacēre, to be silent as opposed to speaking.^[5] Church Latin glosses it “be silent, be dumb, not speak”.^[6] English tacit (c. 1600) comes from tacitus.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius: quid sī taceās?.^[3][8]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: quid nunc tacēs?;^[3][8] tacēre nequeō sōlus quod sciō.^[3][8]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus: cum tacet nox.^[3][8]
• c. 1600 – English tacit, from the participle.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be silent, say nothing, hold one's tongue.^[3][4][1][6]
2. To stop speaking.^[3]
3. To be still, quiet (of things).^[3][1]
4. To keep quiet about, pass over in silence.^[3][1]

Word family

• conticeō
• obticeō
• reticeō
• subtacitus
• tacitulus
• taciturio
• taciturnus
• tacitē
• tacitus

Related words

• taciturnitās
• sileō
• English tacit

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de