tact

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /tækt/ Homophone: tacked Rhymes: -ækt === Etymology 1 === 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. ==== Noun ==== tact (uncountable) 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. [from early 19th c.] Synonyms: sensitivity, consideration, diplomacy, tactfulness Propriety; manners (etiquette). ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Directly borrowed from Latin tāctus. ==== Noun ==== tact (countable and uncountable, plural tacts) The sense of touch; feeling. [from 1650s] (music) The stroke in beating time. (psychology) A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise). ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== tact (third-person singular simple present tacts, present participle tacting, simple past and past participle tacted) (psychology) To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant). === Etymology 3 === ==== Noun ==== tact (plural tacts) (slang) Clipping of tactic. === References === === Further reading === tact on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “tact”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “tact”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. === See also === tact time === Anagrams === Catt == Dutch == === Etymology === Borrowed from French tact. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /tɑkt/ Hyphenation: tact Rhymes: -ɑkt === Noun === tact m (uncountable, no diminutive) tact, discernment == French == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin tactus. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /takt/ === Noun === tact m (plural tacts) tact sense of touch ==== Related terms ==== tactile ==== Descendants ==== → Dutch: tact → English: tact (“sensitive mental touch”) → Greek: τακτ (takt) → Polish: takt → Turkish: takt === Further reading === “tact”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from German Takt or French tact. === Noun === tact n (plural tacturi) tact ==== Declension ====