Etymograph

English

retard

Retard comes from Latin retardō ‘to retard’, from tardus ‘slow, sluggish’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂-d-o-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tr̥h₂-d-o-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tardo-reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtardus‘slow, sluggish’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEretardō‘to retard’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400retarder
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500retarden
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1650retard

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tr̥h₂-d-o-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tardo-reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtardus‘slow, sluggish’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEretardō‘to retard’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400retarder
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500retarden
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1650retard

Earliest quotation: 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […]: “Some years it [The River Nile] hath also retarded,…”

Linked words

through Latin tardus ‘slow, sluggish’

tardy, 8 more

Today it means

noun A retardation; a delay.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂-d-o- / retard

Shirt and support for this word