Where does “taciturnity” come from?
Taciturnity comes from French taciturnité, from Latin taciturnitas, derived from Latin tacitus meaning silent, with the Latin suffix -itas forming abstract nouns.
taciturnity (English): The trait of being taciturn; Failure to assert a...
Definitions
- The trait of being taciturn; Failure to assert a...
Ancestry of “taciturnity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | taciturnite | — |
| 2 | Latin | taciturnitas | silence (keeping silent), taciturnity |
| 3 | Latin | taciturnus | untalkative, taciturn, quiet, silent |
| 4 | Latin | Tacitus | A Roman cognomen, notably borne by Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c.56-117), a historian of ancient Rome and Marcus Claudius Tacitus (c.200-275), a Roman emperor |
| 5 | Latin | taceo | I am silent, say nothing, shut up, hold my... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | takēō | be silent |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | tak- | to be silent |