tantus Latin · revision 17899

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=ine-pro *teh₂-nt-o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈtan.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtan.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tantus''' (feminine tanta, neuter tantum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ An inscription has the spelling ''tamtus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*tānto-|t=so great]], [[inh|ine-pro|*teh₂-nt-o-]], beside the adverb [[tam]] “so”, as [[quantus]] stands beside [[quam]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan thinks it probably continues a PIE type of adjective built on pronominal stems with the suffix [[m|ine-pro|*-nt-]].^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis and Short compared [[sa|तावन्त्|tr=tā́vant|t=so great]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Cognate with [[osc|etanto]] and [[xum|etantu|t=so great]], from [[m|itc-pro|*e-tanto-]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Naevius;^(de Vaan 2008) the OLD's first example is a line of Naevius about the great noise the millstones made there.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Tantus'' means “so great” in size, degree or importance, and as the correlative of ''[[quantus]]'' “as great (as)”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is followed by ''ut'' or a relative clause, “so great that”, and in the plural means “so many”.^(OLD 2012) Its neuter gave the adverbs ''[[tantum]]'' and ''[[tantō]]''.^(Wiktionary) With ''multō'' or ''bis'' it means “many times, twice as much”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Medieval Latin the plural ''tantī'' is used for ''[[tot]]'' “so many”, and ''in tantum ut'' means “so that”.^(Niermeyer 1976) Old French ''tant'' “as much”, from the neuter, is in English [[m|en|tantamount]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of the noise of millstones.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''ego multō tanta miserior quam tū'', “I am many times more wretched than you”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero: ''nōn sum tantō ego … ingeniō, quantō Themistoclēs fuit'', “I am not as gifted as Themistocles was”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1640s – English [[m|en|tantamount]], through Anglo-French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of such size, so [[m|en|great]], so much.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(with quantus)'' As great (as);^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''tantō … quantō'', so much … as.^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(with ut or a relative)'' So great (that).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' So many.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, plural)'' So many, as many (= ''tot'');^(Niermeyer 1976) ''in tantum ut'', so that.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tantillus]]

+ * [[tantīsper]]

+ * [[tantopere]]

+ * [[tantulus]]

+ * [[tantō]]

+ * [[tantum]]

+ * [[tantusdem]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}