different between tach vs tact

English

Etymology 1

Clipping of tachometer

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæk/
• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

tach (plural tachs)

1. (informal) Tachometer

Etymology 2

Backslang for hat (with /t?/ substituted for the /h/).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæt?/
• Rhymes: -æt?

Noun

tach (plural taches)

1. (obsolete, costermongers) A hat.

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæk/
• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

tach (uncountable)

1. (medicine, colloquial) Tachycardia.

Anagrams

• ACTH, CHAT, Cath, cath, cath., chat

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• dach (Sette Comuni)

Etymology

From Middle High German dach, from Old High German dah, from Proto-Germanic *þak? (“roof, cover”). Cognate with German Dach, English thack.

Noun

tach f

1. (Luserna) roof

Declension

References

• “tach” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Middle English

Etymology 1

Unknown. Perhaps related to trasch or Modern English tatch (“to set grass on fire”).

Noun

tach (uncountable)

1. touchwood, tinder

Alternative forms

• tache, tasch, tasche, tasshe

References

• “tach(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old French tache (“stain, spot”), of uncertain origin; perhaps a native derivation, or borrowed from Gothic.

Noun

tach (plural taches)

1. characteristic
2. disfigurement, blemish
3. symbol, sign

Alternative forms

• tacche, tachche, tatche, tak, tech, teche, tecche, tetche

Descendants

• English: tache, tatch
• Scots: tache
• ?? English: tetchy

References

• “tach(e, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Verb

tach (third-person singular simple present tacheth, present participle tachinge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle taught)

1. Alternative form of techen

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin t?ctus. Sense “keen perception” developed in French tact.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

tact (countable and uncountable, plural tacts)

1. The sense of touch; feeling. [from 1650s]
   • 1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society

     Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?

   • 1881, Joseph LeConte, Sight: An Exposition on the Principles of Monocular and Binocular Vision

     Now, sight is a very refined tact.

2. (music) The stroke in beating time.
3. 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. [from early 19th c.]

   Synonyms: sensitivity, consideration, diplomacy, tactfulness

4. (slang) Clipping of tactic.
   • 2006 "Block Party", Corner Gas

     Wanda "Hey, can you show us?"
     Karen "No"
     Brent "We promise not to make fun of you."
     Karen "No"
     Lacey "Okay, we promise TO make fun of you."
     Karen "I'm getting a drink"
     Lacey "I was trying a different tact."
     Wanda "Bad tack."

5. (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).
   • 2013, Jacob L. Gewirtz, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Lamb, Intersections With Attachment

     Skinner (1957) saw such tacts as responses that are reinforced socially.

Derived terms

• tactful
• tactless

Translations

Verb

tact (third-person singular simple present tacts, present participle tacting, simple past and past participle tacted)

1. (psychology) To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

Further reading

• tact on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• tact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• tact in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

References

Anagrams

• Catt

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French tact.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?kt/
• Hyphenation: tact
• Rhymes: -?kt

Noun

tact m (uncountable)

1. tact, discernment

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tactus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /takt/

Noun

tact m (plural tacts)

1. tact

Related terms

• tactile

Further reading

• “tact” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).