tantus

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Latin

Etymology

From tam (so) +‎ -tus (adjectival/adverbial ending); compare quantus, intus, subtus.

One alternate etymology supposes direct continuation from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂-n̥t-os.[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

tantus (feminine tanta, neuter tantum); first/second-declension adjective

  1. of such size, of such measure
  2. so much, so great, such, so many
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.33:
      Tantae mōlis erat Rōmānam condere gentem.
      Of such great effort was it to found the Roman people.
      or, It was so great a burden to found the Roman race.

      (The gods conspire and humans suffer to found what will become an empire; i.e., so great the effort, so great the achievement.)

Usage notes

  • Being naturally an adjective, tantus was then used substantively as tantum (frequently with genitive) to mean "so much of", "so many of"; as tantī (pretiī) to mean "so high (a price)" ; adverbially as tantum to mean "so much", "to such degree" (cf. tam); as tantō to mean "by so much". For all these quantus has its coordinate functions.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “tam”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 606
  • tantus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • tantus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • tantus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • the frost set in so severely that..: tanta vis frigoris insecuta est, ut
    • under such unfavourable circumstances: in tanta rerum (temporum) iniquitate
    • he had such an extraordinary memory that..: memoria tanta fuit, ut
    • (ambiguous) this much is certain: hoc (not tantum) certum est
    • (ambiguous) to take only enough food to support life: tantum cibi et potionis adhibere quantum satis est
    • (ambiguous) I will only say this much..: tantum or unum illud or hoc dico