Etymology

From Proto-ItalicCategory:Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic#TARDUSCategory:Latin terms derived from Proto-Italic#TARDUS *tardo-, from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#TARDUS *tr̥h₂-d-o-, from the root *terh₂- (“to cross over, pass through, overcome”).

The phonetic development follows the regular Latin outcome of a syllabic liquid followed by a laryngeal (*r̥h₂ > -ar-). Semantically, the word likely shifted from "drawn out" or "taking a long time to cross/endure" to "slow" or "late". Cognate with Sanskrit तरति (tárati, “crosses over, overcomes”)Category:Sanskrit terms with non-redundant manual transliterations#TARDUS and Ancient Greek τρανής (tranḗs, “piercing, clear, distinct”).

While this is the standard Indo-European reconstruction, De Vaan notes the etymology remains "uncertain" due to the lack of direct cognates with the specific meaning of "slow" in other branches, and an EtruscanCategory:Latin terms derived from Etruscan#TARDUS origin has occasionally been suggested.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtar.dʊs]Category:Latin 2-syllable words#TARDUSCategory:Latin terms with IPA pronunciation#TARDUS
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtar.dus]Category:Latin 2-syllable words#TARDUSCategory:Latin terms with IPA pronunciation#TARDUS

Adjective

tardus (feminine tarda, neuter tardum, comparative tardior, superlative tardissimus, adverb tardē)Category:Latin lemmas#TARDUSCategory:Latin adjectives#TARDUSCategory:Latin first and second declension adjectives#TARDUSCategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#TARDUSCategory:Pages with entries#TARDUSCategory:Pages with 1 entry#TARDUS; first/second-declension adjective

1. slow, sluggish

   Synonyms: languidus, sērus

   • c. 194 BCE, Plautus, Poenulus 3.1.1–4:

     [Agorastocles] Ita me di ament, tardo amico nihil est quicquam inaequius,
     praesertim homini amanti, qui quidquid agit properat omnia.
     Sicut ego hos duco advocatos, homines spissigradissimos,
     tardiores quam corbitae sunt in tranquillo mari.

     [Agorastocles] May gods so love me, nothing is more unfair than having a slothful friend, even more so for a man in love, who in doing anything must all expedite. So I lead them, having called them forth, the most slow-paced men of them all, slower than freight ships [corbitae] upon a quiet sea.

     Category:Latin terms with quotations#TARDUS
2. tardy

   Synonyms: languidus, lentus

   Antonyms: rapidus, vēlōx, celer, properus, promptus, facilis

3. late, lingering

   Synonym: sērus

4. dull, stupid, slow-witted

References

Further reading

• “tardus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tardus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "tardus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “tardus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Template:R:la:Ernout-Meillet
• Template:R:la:Walde-Hofmann