tarde

Forms

tardē (comparative tardius, superlative tardissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from tardus (“slow”) with the adverb ending -ē.^[2][1][3] De Vaan finds no etymology for ⟨tardus⟩, and rejects Walde and Hofmann's link with Ancient Greek τέρυ (téru, “weak”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius, in a comedy: tū nimis spissē ac tardē incēdis, “you walk too slowly and sluggishly”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is slowly or sluggishly, and in the jurist Gaius “with difficulty”, of someone who hears slowly.^[2] It is also late or tardily: Cicero has Lentulus come very late, citius tardius is “sooner or later”, and cum tardissimē “at the latest”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of walking slowly.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of coming late.^[2][3]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius in the sense “with difficulty”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Slowly, sluggishly; with difficulty.^[2][1]
2. Late, tardily;^[2][1] citius tardius, sooner or later.^[2][1]

Related words

• tardigradus
• tarditās
• tardiusculus
• tardus
• tardō

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 j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill