tarde
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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
- Slowly, sluggishly; with difficulty.[2][1]
- Late, tardily;[2][1] citius tardius, sooner or later.[2][1]
Related words
- tardigradus
- tarditās
- tardiusculus
- tardus
- tardō
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill