tamdiu

Forms

tamdiū (not comparable)^[1] It is also written separately, tam diū.^[2][3][4] The spelling tandiū is less correct.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin tam (“so”) + diū (“long”).^[1][6][7] De Vaan derives tam from Proto-Italic *tām (“so”) and Proto-Indo-European *teh₂m, and diū from the old locative of the word for “day”, Proto-Indo-European *di-eu- (“day, sky”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Plautus,^[6] who uses it in questions about a delay: quid illic tam diū restitistī?, “why did you stay there so long?”^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means “so long, for so long a time”, often with the comparison left unstated, as in Plautus and Terence.^[2][9] Cicero uses it as the antecedent of a temporal clause, tam diū … quam diū “as long as”, and with quoad, dum, quam or donec:^[2][9][4] ego tam diū requiēscō quam diū aut ad tē scrībō aut tuās litterās legō, “I rest only as long as I am writing to you or reading your letters”.^[2] With ut it means “so long that”,^[3][4] and Palladius has tamdiū … ut in the sense “until”.^[9] It can also mean “for such a long time now”, as in Tacitus' remark that Germany has been conquered for so long.^[2][9] Ecclesiastical Latin keeps tamdiū … quamdiū for “until such time as”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in questions about long delays.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it with quam diū, quoad and dum.^[2][9][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus has tam diū Germānia vincitur.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. So long, for so long a time.^[2][9][3]
2. With quam diū, quoad, dum, quam or donec: as long as, until.^[2][9][5]
3. For such a long time now; so very long.^[9][2]

Related words

• quamdiū
• tam
• diū

Usage notes

Lewis & Short note that both clauses of tam diū … quam diū take the same tense, and in past time the perfect indicative.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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