tardio

Forms

tardio (feminine tardia, masculine plural tardios, feminine plural tardias)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin tardīvus (“slow; late”), formed from Latin tardus (“slow”) with the suffix -īvus.^[2][1][3] The Late Latin adjective is recorded only in the Tironian notes.^[1][4]

The same word gave Romanian târziu, Italian tardivo, French tardif, Catalan tardiu and Spanish tardío.^[5][1]

De Vaan finds no etymology for the Latin adjective and rejects as unconvincing its comparison with Ancient Greek τέρυ (téru, “weak”) and a Sanskrit word for “young”.^[6] Wiktionary instead derives it from Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- (“to cross over, pass through”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from the sermons of Paiva, dated 1562–1575, in the botanical sense “flowering or fruiting after the usual time”, and Cunha dates the word to the 16th century, as “coming out of season”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the sense “slow, moving slowly” to 1574–1590.^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) equates the word with serôdio and lists proverbs built on it, such as Melhor he anno tardio, que vazio “better a late year than an empty one” and Filho tardio, fica orfaõ cedo “a late child is orphaned early”.^[8] Folqman (1755) renders it with Latin serotinus.^[9] Vieira defines it as what comes after the right or convenient time, and also as slow and dilatory.^[10]

In modern use the word names whatever happens late in a process, a life or a period, and it forms terms such as latim tardio “Late Latin” and adolescência tardia.^[1][11]

Timeline

• 1562–1575 – first record, in Paiva's sermons.^[2]
• 1574–1590 – the sense “slow”.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists proverbs with tardio.^[8]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it with Latin serotinus.^[9]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines it as coming after the right time.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. late, belated: coming after the proper or expected time: Recebeu um elogio tardio.^[2][1][12]
2. (botany) Flowering, ripening or bearing fruit after the usual season; serôdio.^[2][1]
3. slow, moving slowly; tardo.^[2][13]
4. Taking a long time; slow to develop.^[2][14]
5. Happening late in the day or in a period.^[14][1]

Word family

• tardiamente

Related words

• tarde
• tardo
• Latin tardus
• Spanish tardío

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. tardio
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. tardio
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. tardivus
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8576
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. tardus
7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. tardio
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tardio
9. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tardio
10. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 681
11. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. tardio
12. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. tardio
13. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. tardio
14. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8830