adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
tardus
tardus (feminine tarda, neuter tardum, comparative tardior, superlative tardissimus, adverb tardē)
Classical[ˈtar.dʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈtar.dus]
№ 738 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- adjectiveslow, sluggish
[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,
[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.c. 194 BCE, Plautus, Poenulus 3.1.1–4 - adjectivetardy
- adjectivelate, lingering
- adjectivedull, stupid, slow-witted
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
nōn celer.tardus -a -um — in Mille Verba, ch. Via et Iter
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Tardus · Lentus
Tardus denotes slowness, with reference to the great length of time spent, in opp. to citus, Sall. Cat. 5; whereas lentus, with reference to quietness of motion, in opp. to acer, etc. Quintil. ix. 4. (iv. 218.)
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | tardus | tarda | tardum |
| genitive | tardī | tardae | tardī |
| dative | tardō | tardae | tardō |
| accusative | tardum | tardam | tardum |
| ablative | tardō | tardā | tardō |
| vocative | tarde | tarda | tardum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | tardī | tardae | tarda |
| genitive | tardōrum | tardārum | tardōrum |
| dative | tardīs | tardīs | tardīs |
| accusative | tardōs | tardās | tarda |
| ablative | tardīs | tardīs | tardīs |
| vocative | tardī | tardae | tarda |
tardus, a, um, adj.,
I. slow, not swift, sluggish, tardy (freq. and class.; syn.: lentus, languidus).
I. Lit., of motion or action:
velox an tardus sit, Cic. Inv. 1, 24, 35: tardi sumus nos, Plaut. Poen. 3, 1, 66: aetate tardiores, id. ib. 3, 1, 6; cf. id. ib. 1 and 4: fatuus est, insulsus, tardus, stertit noctes et dies, Ter. Eun. 5, 8, 49: redemptor non inertiā aut inopiā tardior fuit, Cic. Div. 2, 21, 47: qualem existimas, qui in adulterio deprehenditur? tardum, id. de Or. 2, 68, 275: nemo erat adeo tardus aut fugiens laboris, Caes. B. C. 1, 69: tarda aliqua et languida pecus, Cic. Fin. 2, 13, 40: asellus, Verg. G. 1, 273: juvenci, id. ib. 2, 206: aves, quas Hispania tardas appellat, Graecia ὠτίδας, Plin. 10, 22, 29, § 56: Caesar ubi reliquos esse tardiores vidit, Caes. B. G. 2, 25: ad injuriam tardiores, Cic. Off. 1, 11, 33: tardior ad judicandum, id. Caecin. 4, 9: ad deponendum imperium, id. Rep. 2, 12, 23: ad discedendum, id. Att. 9, 13, 4; cf.: Bibulus in decedendo erit, ut audio, tardior, id. ib. 7, 3, 5: proci loripedes, tardissimi, Plaut. Poen. 3, 1, 7: Apollo, i. e. unpropitious, Prop. 1, 8, 41. —b. Of things concr. and abstr.:
tardiores tibicinis modi et cantus remissiores, Cic. de Or. 1, 60, 254: omnia tarda et spissa, id. Att. 10, 18, 2: fumus, Verg. A. 5, 682: frumenti tarda subvectio, Liv. 44, 8, 1: poena tardior, Cic. Caecin. 3, 7; Quint. 7, 2, 42: portenta deum tarda et sera nimis, Cic. poët. Div. 2, 30, 64: sic mihi tarda fluunt tempora, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 23: noctes, coming on late, Verg. G. 2, 482: tardiora fata, Hor. Epod. 17, 62: anne novum tardis sidus te mensibus addas, i. e. to the long summer months, Verg. G. 1, 32: nox, Ov. P. 2, 4, 26: tarda Genua labant, Verg. A. 5, 432: podagra, i. e. that makes one move slowly, Hor. S. 1, 9, 32: senectus, id. ib. 2, 2, 88; Tib. 2, 2, 19; cf. passus, Ov. M. 10, 49: abdomen, Juv. 4, 107: onus, Sen. Phoen. 568: sapor, i. e. that lingers long on the palate, Verg. G. 2, 126: lingua, Sen. Oedip. 293.—Poet., with gen.: tardus fugae, delaying his flight, Val. Fl. 3, 547; and with inf.: nectere tectos Numquam tarda dolos, Sil. 3, 234. —II. Trop., slow of apprehension, dull, heavy, stupid.
A. In gen.: Ch. Prorsum nihil intellego. Sy. Hui, tardus es, Ter. Heaut. 4, 5, 28:
sensus hebetes et tardi, Cic. Ac. 1, 8, 31: nimis indociles tardique, id. N. D. 1, 5, 12: si qui forte sit tardior, id. de Or. 1, 28, 127: tardi ingenii est, rivulos consectari, fontes rerum non videre, id. ib. 2, 27, 117: tardo ingenio esse, id. Agr. 3, 2, 6: mentes, id. Tusc. 5, 24, 68: ingenium, Quint. 1, 3, 2.—B. In partic., of speech or of a speaker, slow, not rapid, measured, deliberate:
in utroque genere dicendi principia tarda sunt, Cic. de Or. 2, 53, 213: stilus, Quint. 10, 3, 5: tardior pronuntiatio, id. 10, 7, 22: tarda et supina compositio, id. 9, 4, 137: tardus in cogitando, Cic. Brut. 59, 216: Lentulus non tardus sententiis, id. ib. 70, 247.—Hence, adv.: tardē. A. Slowly, tardily:
tarde percipere (opp. celeriter arripere), Cic. Rosc. Com. 11, 31; Plaut. Pers. 5, 1, 20; id. Ps. 4, 3, 15; Cic. Fam. 14, 5, 1; id. Att. 3, 7, 3; 5, 15, 3; 11, 22, 2; id. Mil. 20, 54; Verg. G. 2, 3. — Comp.: tardius moveri, Cic. N. D. 2, 20, 51; id. Tusc. 1, 31, 75; 4, 14, 32; id. Prov. Cons. 14, 35; Caes. B. G. 4, 23; id. B. C. 3, 28 al.— Sup.: tardissime judicare, Cic. Caecin. 2, 7. —B. Late, not in time, not early, Pall. 11, 14, 3.—Sup.:
tardissime, at latest, Plin. 18, 7, 10, §§ 51 and 56: quam tardissime, as late as possible, Asin. Poll. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 33, 1.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
tardus adj.
with comp. and sup, slow, not swift, sluggish, tardy: velox an tardus sit: tardus aut fugiens laboris, Cs.: iuvenci, V.: ubi reliquos esse tardiores vidit, Cs.: tardior ad iudicandum: in decedendo tardior: tardiores tibicinis modi et cantūs remissiores: fumus, V.: frumenti tarda subvectio, L.: tarda Genua labant, V.: senectus, H.: passus, O.: abdomen, Iu.—Slow of approach, delaying, late: noctes, V.: tardiora fata, H.: eo poena est tardior.—Slow to pass, lingering, long: tempora, H.: menses, i. e. the long summer months, V.: sapor, i. e. lingering in the palate, V.—Fig., slow of apprehension, dull, heavy, stupid: vah, tardus es, T.: si qui forte sit tardior.—In speech, slow, not rapid, measured, deliberate: in utroque genere dicendi principia tarda sunt: sententiis: illi Tardo cognomen pingui damus, H.
Origins
From Proto-Italic *tardo-, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂-d-o-, from the root *terh₂- (“to cross over, pass through, overcome”). The phonetic development follows the regular Latin outcome of a syllabic liquid followed by a laryngeal (*r̥h₂ > -ar-). Semantically, the word likely shifted from "drawn out" or "taking a long time to cross/endure" to "slow" or "late". Cognate with Sanskrit तरति (tárati, “crosses over, overcomes”) and Ancient Greek τρανής (tranḗs, “piercing, clear, distinct”). While this is the standard Indo-European reconstruction, De Vaan notes the etymology remains "uncertain" due to the lack of direct cognates with the specific meaning of "slow" in other branches, and an Etruscan origin has occasionally been suggested.
Insular Romance
- Sardiniantaldu
- Sardiniantardu
- Sardiniantraddu
- Sardiniantradu
Ibero-Romance
- Portuguesetardo
- Spanishtardo
- Spanishtarde
- Asturiantardu
Gallo-Romance
- Frenchtardfrom Old French tart
- Frenchtardif
Occitano-Romance
- Catalantard
- Occitantard
Borrowings
- Englishtardy
- Romaniantard
Balkan Romance
- Romaniantârziu
- Aromaniantãrdzãu
- Aromaniantãrdziu
- Aromaniantãrdu
Italo-Romance
- Italiantardo
North Italian
- Venetantardo
- Romanshtard
In English words that came into English from tardus
- tardytardīvus
- retardretardō
- tardigradetardigradus
- retardationretardātiō
- aquitardtardus
- retardativeretardāre
- tarditytarditās