tardus

Latin

Etymology

Unknown, according to De Vaan; possibly of Etruscan origin.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtar.dʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtar.dus]

Adjective

tardus (feminine tarda, neuter tardum, comparative tardior, superlative tardissimus, adverb tardē); 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.

2. tardy

   Synonyms: languidus, lentus

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

3. late, lingering

   Synonym: sērus

4. dull, stupid, slow-witted

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	tardus	tarda	tardum		tardī	tardae	tarda
genitive	tardī	tardae	tardī		tardōrum	tardārum	tardōrum
dative	tardō	tardae	tardō		tardīs
accusative	tardum	tardam	tardum		tardōs	tardās	tarda
ablative	tardō	tardā	tardō		tardīs
vocative	tarde	tarda	tardum		tardī	tardae	tarda

Derived terms

• tarde
• tarditās

Related terms

• tardō

Descendants

• Aromanian: tãrdzãu, tãrdziu, tãrdu
• Asturian: tardu, tardiu
• Catalan: tard
• French: tardif
  • → English: tardy
• Italian: tardo, tardivo
• Occitan: tard, tardiu
• Portuguese: tardo, tardio
• Romanian: târziu
• Romansh: tard
• Sardinian: taldu, tardu, traddu, tradu
• Sicilian: tardu
• Spanish: tardo, tardío

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.