adverb
tantum
tantum (not comparable)
Classical[ˈtan.tũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈtan.tum]
№ 216 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparableso much, to such a degree (so greatly, so little)
- not comparableas much of […] as
da mihi tantum aquae quantum vīnī
give me as much of water as wine - not comparableonly, alone, merely, but, just
In the readers how our graded readers gloss it
only (= sōlum)
tantum — in Seneca, ch. I
tantum, adv., v. tantus
I. fin.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
tantum adv.
tantus, so much, so greatly, to such a degree, so far, so long, so : id tantum abest ab officio, ut, etc., so far : rex tantum auctoritate eius motus est, ut, etc., N.: tantumque ibi moratus, dum, etc., so long , L.: ne miremini, quā ratione hic tantum apud istum libertus potuerit.—With an adj., so : nec tantum dulcia, quantum Et liquida, V.: iuventus Non tantum Veneris quantum studiosa culinae, H.— Only so much, so little, only, alone, merely, but : tantum monet, quantum intellegit, only so much : tantum in latitudinem patebat, quantum, etc., Cs.: notus mihi nomine tantum, H.: excepit unum tantum: unum flumen tantum intererat, Cs.: unum defuisse tantum superbiae, L.—With non, only not, very nearly, almost, all but : cum vineae tantum non iam iniunctae moenibus essent, L.; cf. tantum non cunctandum nec cessandum esse, only there must be no delay (where non belongs not to tantum but to the verb), L.: dictator bello ita gesto, ut tantum non defuisse fortunae videretur, L.—With quod, only, just, but just, a little before, hardly, scarcely : tantum quod ex Arpinati veneram, cum mihi a te litterae redditae sunt; cf. tantum quod extaret aquā (where quod belongs not to tantum , but to the verb), L.— Just, only now (poet.): Serta tantum capiti delapsa, V.—In the phrase, tantum quod non, only that not, nothing is wanting but : tantum quod hominem non nominat.
tantum modo or tantum-modo adv.,
only, merely: ut tantum modo per stirpīs alantur suas: pedites tantummodo umeris ac summo pectore exstare (ut possent), Cs.: velis tantummodo, you have only to wish it, H.: Scipionem misit non ad tuendos tantummodo socios, sed etiam, etc., L.
Origins
Adverbial accusative of tantus. Compare with tam.
Descendants
- Catalantant
- Frenchtantfrom Old French tant
- Frenchautantfrom Old French tant
- Frenchpourtantfrom Old French tant
- Englishtantamountfrom Old French tant
- Italiantanto
- Portuguesetanto
- Spanishtanto
- Dalmatiantuant
- Friuliantant