tact
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Latin tāctus. Sense “keen perception” developed in French tact.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tact (countable and uncountable, plural tacts)
- The sense of touch; feeling. [from 1650s]
- 1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society
- Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?
- 1881, Joseph LeConte, Sight: An Exposition on the Principles of Monocular and Binocular Vision
- Now, sight is a very refined tact.
- 1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society
- (music) The stroke in beating time.
- Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing. [from early 19th c.]
- Synonyms: sensitivity, consideration, diplomacy, tactfulness
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 11, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:
- He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 11, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:
- A tact which surpassed the tact of her sex as much as the tact of her sex surpassed the tact of ours.
- By the use of tact, she was able to calm her jealous husband.
- I used tact when I told my fat uncle that his extra weight made him look better.
- (slang) Clipping of tactic.
- 2006 "Block Party", Corner Gas
- Wanda "Hey, can you show us?"
Karen "No"
Brent "We promise not to make fun of you."
Karen "No"
Lacey "Okay, we promise TO make fun of you."
Karen "I'm getting a drink"
Lacey "I was trying a different tact."
Wanda "Bad tack."
- Wanda "Hey, can you show us?"
- 2006 "Block Party", Corner Gas
- (psychology) A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
- 2013, Jacob L. Gewirtz, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Lamb, Intersections With Attachment
- Skinner (1957) saw such tacts as responses that are reinforced socially.
- 2013, Jacob L. Gewirtz, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Lamb, Intersections With Attachment
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
sensitive mental touch
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Verb[edit]
tact (third-person singular simple present tacts, present participle tacting, simple past and past participle tacted)
- (psychology) To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).
Further reading[edit]
tact on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “tact” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- “tact” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “tact”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tact m (uncountable)
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tact m (plural tacts)
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- → Turkish: takt
Further reading[edit]
- “tact”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From German Takt or French tact.
Noun[edit]
tact n (plural tacturi)
Declension[edit]
Declension of tact
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) tact | tactul | (niște) tacturi | tacturile |
genitive/dative | (unui) tact | tactului | (unor) tacturi | tacturilor |
vocative | tactule | tacturilor |
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *teh₂g- (touch)
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ækt
- Rhymes:English/ækt/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Music
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English slang
- English clippings
- en:Psychology
- English verbs
- en:Touch
- Dutch terms borrowed from French
- Dutch terms derived from French
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɑkt
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch uncountable nouns
- Dutch masculine nouns
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *teh₂g-
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- Romanian terms borrowed from German
- Romanian terms derived from German
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns