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taedet

Etymology and origin of the Latin word taedet

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Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Plautus

Forms

taedet (present infinitive taedēre, perfect active taesus est); second conjugation, impersonal, semi-deponent[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2][3] It is a stative Proto-Italic *taid-ē-, beside an adjective *taid-ro- that may survive in taeter “foul”, but there is no good etymology for the root.[2] Lewis and Short compared the root of tumeō, and Döderlein tardus.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It was impersonal, with an accusative of the person and a genitive or infinitive: it wearies, disgusts, I am tired or sick of, as Cicero's eōs vītae taedet, they are tired of life.[3][7] Its perfect was taeduit or taesum est.[4] Döderlein distinguishes piget, what one cannot do or bear at all, from taedet, what one can no longer do or bear, and paenitet, what one wishes one had never done.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero says some are tired of life.[7][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (impersonal) It wearies, disgusts, I am tired or sick of.[3]

Word family

  • distaedet
  • pertaedeō
  • taedescit
  • taedium
  • taedulus
  • fastus
  • taeter
  • English tedium
  • English tedious

References

  1. ^ 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 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. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry

“Taedet.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/taedet. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·