tacitus

See also: Tacitus and TACITUS

Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of taceō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈta.ki.tus/, [ˈt̪äkɪt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈta.t͡ʃi.tus/, [ˈt̪äːt͡ʃit̪us]

Participle

tacitus (feminine tacita, neuter tacitum); first/second-declension participle

1. (pass.) that is passed over in silence, not spoken of, kept secret, unmentioned
2. that is done without words, assumed as a matter of course, silent, implied, tacit
3. that is done or exists in silence; secret, hidden, concealed, unnoticed, undetected

   Synonym: indictus

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.288–290:

     Mnestheā Sergestumque vocat fortemque Serestum:
     Classem aptent tacitī sociōsque ad lītora cōgant,
     arma parent [...].

     [Aeneas] summons Mnestheus, Sergestus, and brave Serestus: They are to fit out the fleet, unnoticed, and gather the crews on shore, weapons readied.
     (Interpreting “taciti” in context: Conceal the activity, attract no attention, make not a sound, tell no one.)

4. (act. or neut.) that does not speak, not uttering a sound, silent, still, quiet, noiseless, mute

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	tacitus	tacita	tacitum		tacitī	tacitae	tacita
genitive	tacitī	tacitae	tacitī		tacitōrum	tacitārum	tacitōrum
dative	tacitō	tacitae	tacitō		tacitīs
accusative	tacitum	tacitam	tacitum		tacitōs	tacitās	tacita
ablative	tacitō	tacitā	tacitō		tacitīs
vocative	tacite	tacita	tacitum		tacitī	tacitae	tacita

Descendants

• Catalan: tàcit
• French: tacite
  • English: tacit
• Italian: tacito
• Portuguese: tácito
• Romanian: tacit
• Spanish: tácito

References

• “tacitus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tacitus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tacitus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• tacitus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “tacitus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers