taciturnus Latin · revision 33859

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *tHk-eh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ta.kɪˈtʊr.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ta.t͡ʃiˈtur.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''taciturnus''' (feminine taciturna, neuter taciturnum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|tacitus|-urnus|t1=silent]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|tacitus]] is the participle of [[m|la|taceō|t=to be silent]], which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*tak-ē-]] and [[ine-pro|*tHk-eh₁-|t=to be silent]], cognate with [[xum|taçez|t=silent]] and [[non|þegja|t=to be silent]]; he rejects a link with the Greek verb for cowering.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Its earliest citations in the OLD and Lewis & Short are Lucretius' “silent silences” being broken and Cicero's man always seen as gloomy and taciturn.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means keeping silent, saying nothing, as in Horace's man who goes out more silent than a statue,^(OLD 2012) and silent by habit, taciturn, as in Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short find it mostly in poetry.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of things it means noiseless or still, as Ovid and Lucretius have of silence and Nepos of a silent obstinacy.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein distinguishes ''tacēre'', to be silent instead of speaking, from ''silēre'', to be still instead of making noise.^(Döderlein 1874) In British Medieval Latin it is also used of a low sound.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of silence broken.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a taciturn man.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – [[m|en|taciturn]] appears in English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Keeping silent, saying nothing; [[m|en|taciturn]], of few words.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of things, [[m|en|noiseless]], still, quiet.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[taciturnitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[taceō]]

+ * [[tacitus]]

+ * [[en|taciturn]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}