tacitly

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English tacit

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Old English -līċe

Middle English -ly

English -ly

English tacitly

From tacit + -ly.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

tacitly (comparative more tacitly, superlative most tacitly)

1. In a tacit manner; done in silence or implied.

   Your failure to object to the request resulted in you tacitly approving the change.

   • 1856, Mrs. William Busk, Mediæval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and Crusaders: Or, Germany, Italy and Palestine, from A.D. 1125 to A.D. 1268‎^[1], volume IV, London: Hookham and Sons, →OCLC, page 294:

     The new accusation brought by Urban against Manfred of murdering his sister-in-law's embassador – it may be observed that, tacitly, he acquits him of parricide, fratricide, and nepoticide – requires a little explanation.

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 148:

     Since old Waziri’s death Tarzan had been directing the warriors in battle, and the temporary command had been tacitly conceded to him.

   • 2012, James Lambert, “Beyond Hobson-Jobson: A new lexicography for Indian English”, in World Englishes‎^[2], page 306:

     The assumption that these are identical in meaning and usage between Indian English and Anglo-American English, while tacitly accepted, is untested, and fundamentally unknown.

   • 2019 May 13, David Robson, “The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world”, in BBC‎^[3]:

     Regarding the “3.5% rule”, she [Erica Chenoweth] points out that while 3.5% is a small minority, such a level of active participation probably means many more people tacitly agree with the cause.

Translations

in a tacit manner

• Bulgarian: мълчали́во (bg) (mǎlčalívo)
• Catalan: tàcitament (ca)
• French: tacitement (fr)
• Romanian: în mod tacit
• Russian: негла́сно (ru) (neglásno), молчали́во (ru) (molčalívo)
• Spanish: tácitamente (es)

Anagrams

• cattily