tacite Latin · revision 33452

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la taceō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tacitē''' (comparative tacitius, superlative tacitissimē)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|tacitus|-ē|t1=silent]].^(OLD 2012) The adjective is the participle of [[m|la|taceō|t=to be silent]],^(Wiktionary) which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*tak-ē-|t=to be silent]] and [[ine-pro|*tHk-eh₁-|t=to be silent]].^(de Vaan 2008) Its nearest cognate is [[xum|taçez|t=tacit]], a participle.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Georges cites Plautus for ''tacitē auscultāre'', “to listen in silence”;^(Georges 1913) Köbler dates it first from Accius.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is without a sound, silently, and then without speaking, without protest or complaint, and without publicity.^(OLD 2012) Cicero has ''tacitē rogāre'', “to ask silently”,^(Georges 1913) and Livy describes people who would curse a man under their breath as he passed by.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) From “without words” came “by implication, tacitly”: in Cicero the law ''tacitē dat … potestātem dēfendendī'', “tacitly grants the right of self-defence”.^(Conte 2010) It also meant secretly, privately,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and, of a slow change, unnoticed: Ovid has ''tacitē lābēns annus'', “the year gliding silently by”,^(Georges 1913) and Persius a skin turning yellow imperceptibly.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Medieval Latin kept all these senses; a 14th-century Oxford statute forbids consenting to secret meetings ''tacitē vel expressē'', “tacitly or expressly”.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has ''tacitē auscultāre''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of silence and of what is implied.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of time passing unnoticed.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of a change that comes imperceptibly.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1350 – The Oxford statutes contrast ''tacitē'' with ''expressē''.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Without a sound, [[m|en|silently]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # Without speaking; without protest or complaint.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Without publicity, [[m|en|quietly]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|secretly|alt=Secretly]], privately.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # Without being expressly stated, [[m|en|tacitly]], by implication.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # Without being noticed, [[m|en|imperceptibly]].^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tacitus]]

+ * [[taceō]]

+ * [[tacitūrnus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}