Where does “taciturn” come from?
taciturn (Romanian) comes from French taciturne, from Latin taciturnus, from Latin Tacitus, from Latin taceo, from Proto-Italic takēō, from Proto-Indo-European tak- — to be silent.
taciturn (Romanian): taciturn
Definitions
- taciturn
Ancestry of “taciturn”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | taciturne | taciturn |
| 2 | Latin | taciturnus | untalkative, taciturn, quiet, silent |
| 3 | 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 |
| 4 | Latin | taceo | I am silent, say nothing, shut up, hold my... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | takēō | be silent |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | tak- | to be silent |