Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tactless” come from?

Tactless derives from English tact, from Latin tactus (past participle of tangere, meaning to touch), from Proto-Indo-European tag-, related to the sense of physical contact.

tactless (English): having no tact; unaware or intentionally...

Definitions

  1. having no tact; unaware or intentionally...

Ancestry of “tactless”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-lessLacking ; without . Added usually to a noun to...
2Middle English-lesLacking ; without
3Turkish-lewith, shortened form of ile; by, shortened form...
4Turkishilewith; and
5Ottoman Turkishایله—
6Old Anatolian Turkishاِیلَه—
7Proto-Turkicbilewith, together, also

Words derived from “tactless”

  • tactlessness
  • tactlessly
Every word from Proto-Turkic bile →