Word of the Day: Tacit

By Daniel Scocco

Tacit refers to something that is implied by actions or statements. A tacit agreement, for instance, is one where either the offer or the acceptance are to be inferred from a particular conduct. It comes from the Latin tacitus, which means silent.

This was a tacit acknowledgement that recent money-market interventions had failed to cap the unusually high rates banks were charging each other for one-month and three-month loans. (The Economist)

By the time the Administration gave its tacit assent to Iranian arms shipments into Bosnia and Herzegovina, weapons already were flowing from Teheran to the Government in Sarajevo, Anthony Lake, President Clinton’s national security adviser, said today. (NY Times)

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3 Responses to “Word of the Day: Tacit”

  • Maeve

    The musical term “tacet” appears in measures for which the musician has no notes to play, i.e., he remains silent.

    There’s a story about the novice percussionist who, seeing the word in his music, spent a feverish fifteen minutes searching for “the tacet.”

  • Daniel

    Thanks for that Geoff!

  • Geoff Foster

    Daniel,

    I’ve linked to this very useful site from the “University Study” item on my blog.

    Thanks for this!

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