tarditas
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 22:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Pronunciation
Forms
tarditās f (genitive tarditātis); third declension[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin tardus (“slow”) + -tās.[2][1] De Vaan finds no etymology for tardus: he calls Walde and Hofmann's comparison with Ancient Greek τέρυ (téru, “weak”) and Sanskrit तरुण (táruṇa-, “young, fresh”) unconvincing in meaning and impossible in form.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler dates it from Cicero, who speaks of slowness of the feet.[4][2]
Semantic evolution
It is slowness of movement or action: Cicero says that the opposite of speed is slowness, not weakness.[5] It is also delay, as when Cicero explains that fear made him slow to act.[2] Pliny the Elder uses it of hardness of hearing, and Cicero of dullness of mind.[2] Lewis & Short call it classical;[5][6] Church Latin glosses it slowness, tardiness.[5][6]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero of slow feet, delay and dullness.[2][4]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of hardness of hearing.[2][4]
Meanings
Noun
- Slowness, tardiness.[2][5][6][1]
- Delay, procrastination.[2]
- Hardness of hearing.[2]
- Dullness of mind.[2]
Related words
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
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson