English
tact
Tact comes from French tact ‘sense of touch’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tangō‘to touch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangō‘touch’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtāctus‘touched’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttact‘sense of touch’
- Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861tact
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tangō‘to touch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangō‘touch’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtāctus‘touched’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttact‘sense of touch’
- Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861tact
Earliest quotation: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, London: Longman: “He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and…”
The story
Borrowed from French tact, following a semantic shift from earlier tact (‘sense of touch; feeling’), borrowed from Latin tāctus (‘touched’). The borrowing was likely influenced by earlier English tact (‘sense of touch; feeling’), which was a parallel borrowing directly from the Latin.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ‘to touch’
taste, integrity, integrate, attain, taxis, taxonomy, contagion, contaminate, talon, tama, ataxia, talus, thwack, 31 more
through Proto-Italic *tangō ‘to touch’
through Latin tangō ‘touch’
Another origin of tact
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtāctus
- Englishtodaytact
Directly borrowed from Latin tāctus.
Today it means
noun Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing and avoid statements that will give offence or pain even if true.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- / tact