Etymologically
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taciturnus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ta.kɪˈtʊr.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ta.t͡ʃiˈtur.nus][1]

Forms

taciturnus (feminine taciturna, neuter taciturnum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tacitus (“silent”) + -urnus.[2][1] tacitus is the participle of taceō (“to be silent”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *tak-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *tHk-eh₁- (“to be silent”), cognate with Umbrian taçez (“silent”) and Old Norse þegja (“to be silent”); he rejects a link with the Greek verb for cowering.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.[3][4] Its earliest citations in the OLD and Lewis & Short are Lucretius' “silent silences” being broken and Cicero's man always seen as gloomy and taciturn.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means keeping silent, saying nothing, as in Horace's man who goes out more silent than a statue,[2] and silent by habit, taciturn, as in Cicero.[2][5] Lewis & Short find it mostly in poetry.[5] Of things it means noiseless or still, as Ovid and Lucretius have of silence and Nepos of a silent obstinacy.[2][5] Döderlein distinguishes tacēre, to be silent instead of speaking, from silēre, to be still instead of making noise.[6] In British Medieval Latin it is also used of a low sound.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of silence broken.[2][5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a taciturn man.[2][5][4]
  • 1650s – taciturn appears in English.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Keeping silent, saying nothing; taciturn, of few words.[2][5][1]
  2. Of things, noiseless, still, quiet.[2][5]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com