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taceo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈta.ke.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtaː.t͡ʃe.o][1]

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
  • 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