English → Latin
“tardy” in Latin
tardusslow, sluggish; tardy; late, lingeringlentussticky, tenacious; slow, sluggish; flexible, pliantsēgnisslow, tardy, torpid, inactive, unenergetic, lazypigerbackward, slow, dull, lazy, indolent, sluggish, unwilling, motionless, inactive, inert; unwilling, reluctant, averselēnissoft, smooth, gentle, moderate, mild, calm; graduallonginquuslong, extensive; far off, distant, remote; living far off, foreign, strange; prolonged, continued, lasting, tedious, lonsēruslate, too late; slow, tardyvēlōxswift, quick, fleet, rapid, speedycelerfast, swift, quick, speedy, fleetnoxnight (period of time); darkness; a dream or sleep
The English word tardy itself goes back to Latin tardus, through tardīvus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
tardy
tardus (that moves or operates slowly; of the mind, slow of comprehension, either indifferently or as blame; opposed to celer, velox): lentus (considerate; not hasty and precipitate, as praise only; and per euphemismum as a censure; opposed to citus, celer): segnis (sleepy; denoting want of energy; opposed to promtus; all these of persons or things): piger (lazy; as a consequence of natural heaviness or dullness, of persons; then also, by personification, of things; as, remedia pigriora, in Col., 2, 17, 3): lenis (that flows gently; of rivers): longinquus (that lasts long, and so that passes away slowly; e.g., noctes): serus (too late). The tardy course of a river, fluminis lenitas (as praise): segnis fluminis cursus (as a censure): tardy of foot, male pedatus (Suet., Oth., 12): tardy in business, tardus in rebus gerendis: tardy in learning, tardus ad discendum or in discendo; lentus in discendo.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for tardy?
- The usual Latin words for “tardy” are tardus, lentus, sēgnis; also piger, lēnis, longinquus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.