tacite

Forms

tacitē (comparative tacitius, superlative tacitissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tacitus (“silent”) + -ē.^[2] The adjective is the participle of taceō (“to be silent”),^[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *tak-ē- (“to be silent”) and Proto-Indo-European *tHk-eh₁- (“to be silent”).^[3] Its nearest cognate is Umbrian taçez (“tacit”), a participle.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges cites Plautus for tacitē auscultāre, “to listen in silence”;^[4] Köbler dates it first from Accius.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is without a sound, silently, and then without speaking, without protest or complaint, and without publicity.^[2] Cicero has tacitē rogāre, “to ask silently”,^[4] and Livy describes people who would curse a man under their breath as he passed by.^[4][6] From “without words” came “by implication, tacitly”: in Cicero the law tacitē dat … potestātem dēfendendī, “tacitly grants the right of self-defence”.^[6] It also meant secretly, privately,^[2][6] and, of a slow change, unnoticed: Ovid has tacitē lābēns annus, “the year gliding silently by”,^[4] and Persius a skin turning yellow imperceptibly.^[2][6] Medieval Latin kept all these senses; a 14th-century Oxford statute forbids consenting to secret meetings tacitē vel expressē, “tacitly or expressly”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has tacitē auscultāre.^[4][5]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of silence and of what is implied.^[4][6][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of time passing unnoticed.^[4][5]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of a change that comes imperceptibly.^[2][5]
• c. 1350 – The Oxford statutes contrast tacitē with expressē.^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Without a sound, silently.^[2][4]
2. Without speaking; without protest or complaint.^[2]
3. Without publicity, quietly.^[2]
4. Secretly, privately.^[2][6]
5. Without being expressly stated, tacitly, by implication.^[2][6]
6. Without being noticed, imperceptibly.^[2][6]

Related words

• tacitus
• taceō
• tacitūrnus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press