# tardy
## English
### Etymology

From an earlier tardive, from French tardif, from Late Latin tardīvus, from Latin tardus (“slow”, “sluggish”), of obscure origin.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈtɑːdi/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈtɑɹdi/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)di

### Adjective

tardy (comparative tardier, superlative tardiest)
* Late; overdue or delayed.
    He yawned, then raised a tardy hand over his mouth.
** c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:When everything is ended, then you come. / These tardy tricks of yours will, on my life, / One time or other break some gallows’ back.
** 1795, Isaac D’Israeli, chapter 9, in An Essay on the Manners and Genius of the Literary Character‎, London: T. Cadell Jr. and W. Davies, page 122:Men of genius anticipate their contemporaries, and know they are such, long before the tardy consent of the public.
** 1914, Saki, “The Stake”, in Beasts and Super-Beasts‎, London: John Lane, pages 202–203:As a matter of fact, the luncheon fare, when it made its tardy appearance, was distinctly unworthy of the reputation which the justly-treasured cook had built up for herself.
** 1963, James Baldwin, “Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind”, in The Fire Next Time‎, New York: Dial, page 87:And the Black Muslims, along with many people who are not Muslims, no longer wish for a recognition so grudging and (should it ever be achieved) so tardy.
* Moving with a slow pace or motion; not swift.
** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:[…] fashions in proud Italy, / Whose manners still our tardy apish nation / Limps after in base imitation.
** 1638, George Sandys, “(please specify the part or chapter)”, in A Paraphrase upon the Divine Poems, London: […] Iohn Legatt, →OCLC:Nor should their Age by Yeares be told: / Whose Souls, more swift then Motion, clime; / And check the tardy Flight of Time.
** 1709, Mat[thew] Prior, “Carmen Seculare, For the Year 1700. To the King”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 151:In various Views she tries her constant Theme; / Finds him, in Councils, and in Arms, the same: / When certain to o’ercome, inclin’d to save; / Tardy to Vengeance; and with Mercy brave.
** 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Chronicles the further Proceedings of the Nickleby Family, and the Sequel of the Adventure of the Gentleman in the Small-clothes”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:[…] a disease which medicine never cured, wealth never warded off, or poverty could boast exemption from; which sometimes moves in giant strides, and sometimes at a tardy sluggish pace, but, slow or quick, is ever sure and certain.
** 1926, Hope Mirrlees, chapter 19, in Lud-in-the-Mist, Millennium, published 2000:These berries […] are a deadly and insidious poison, though very tardy in their action, often lying dormant in the blood for many days.
** 1954 November, Frank Hewitt, “The First Decade of British 4-6-0 Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 747:After the introduction of the Highland Railway class, the progress of the 4-6-0 was tardy for some years.Then, when designers were increasingly turning to it as the answer to their growing motive power problems, production of 4-6-0s swelled into a flood tide.
** 1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull:And the youngest of the family Is moving with authority Building castles by the sea He dares the tardy tide To wash them all aside.
* Ineffectual; slow-witted, slow to act, or dull.
    His tardy performance bordered on incompetence.
* (obsolete) Unwary; unready (especially in the phrase take (someone) tardy).
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:Be not ta’en tardy by unwise delay.
** 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto III.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 104:Yield, Scoundrel base (quoth she) or die; / Thy life is mine, and liberty. / But if thou think’st I took thee tardy, / And dar’st presume to be so hardy, / To try thy fortune o’re afresh, / I’le wave my title to thy flesh,
* (obsolete) Criminal; guilty.
** 1697, Jeremy Collier, Essays upon Several Moral Subjects:And the Franks served the Men much the same ſauce when they found them tardy, and made them run their Heats through the Streets

#### Usage notes

* The term suggests habitual lateness.
* Somewhat dated in the United Kingdom.

#### Synonyms

* (late; overdue; not on time): belated, delayed

#### Derived terms

* tardily
* tardiness

#### Translations
### Noun

tardy (plural tardies)
* (US) A piece of paper given to students who are late to class.
    The teacher gave her a tardy because she did not come into the classroom until after the bell.
* (US) An instance of a student's being marked as tardy by a teacher on the teacher's attendance sheet.

#### See also

* tardy slip

### Verb

tardy (third-person singular simple present tardies, present participle tardying, simple past and past participle tardied)
* (obsolete, transitive) To make tardy.
** c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:the good mind of Camillo tardied My swift command
* (rare, intransitive) To dawdle.
** 2001, Donna Morrissey, Kit's Law, page 86:Sitting there on the rock behind the school, I heard nothing but the occasional raised voice of some youngster tardying on his way home, and the joints in the schoolhouse squeaking from the frost.

### Anagrams

* Darty