tacitadj.
/ˈtasɪt/, U.S. /ˈtæsət/ 1.
a. Unspoken, unvoiced; silent, emitting no sound; noiseless, wordless.
ΚΠ
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. A4 Without the interruption of tacite obiections. View more context for this quotation
1628 R. Le Grys tr. J. Barclay Argenis i. 73 With a tacit vpbraiding she put them in mind.
1798 W. S. Landor Gebir ii. 238 With a long and tacit step..He looked and tottered on a black abyss.
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 113 A tacit thankfulness in his looks, as if he felt grateful to me.
1855 J. S. C. Abbott Hist. Napoleon II. xviii. 329 One of those tacit prayers to which no language can give adequate expression.
b. Saying nothing; still, silent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > loss or lack of voice > [adjective] > silent or not uttering
mutec1400
as mute as a mackerel (also maid, mouse, picture, poker, statue, stone)c1425
whust1573
tacit1604
as mute as a fish (also fishes)1620
tacent1652
non-speaking1911
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Tacite, still, silent, saying nothing.
1651 T. Hobbes Philos. Rudim. xv. §3. 238 Gods lawes are declar'd after a threefold manner: first, by the tacit dictates of Right reason, next by immediate revelation [etc.].
1804 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) III. 497 If the British Government had remained..a tacit spectator of events.
1867 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) I. 221 Edward Strachey was..a man rather tacit than discursive.
2. Not openly expressed or stated, but implied; understood, inferred. tacit mortgage, a lien in the nature of a mortgage created by operation of law. tacit relocation: see tacit relocation at relocation n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > hidden or indirect meaning > [adjective]
covert1393
sidelinga1500
implieda1535
insinuate1534
understood1576
implicative1602
insinuated1605
reserved1607
whispered1608
interpretative1610
implicit1613
tacit1637
tacid1651
adumbrative1751
inexplicit1827
inexpress1871
c1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 208 Tacita relocatio.]
1637–50 J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (Wodrow Soc.) 251 This tacite approveing of these commissioners, men so highlie guiltie,..argues a great decay of zeall, and courage.
1681 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. i. x. §61. 149 In the tacite legal hypothecation, [our custom] hath only allowed a few.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. ii. 189 Common use, by a tacit Consent, appropriates certain Sounds to certain Ideas in all Languages.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 19 A tacit Acknowledgment that Monarchy is the more honourable.
1881 Spectator 30 Apr. 573 Locke's doctrine of a tacit social compact.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1604