different between tact vs tect

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).

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: t?kt, IPA^(key): /t?kt/

Etymology 1

From the Middle English tecte, from the Latin t?ctus (“covered”), the perfect passive participle of teg? (“I cover”).

Adjective

tect (not comparable)

1. (obsolete, rare, construed as a past participle) Covered; hidden.

Derived terms

• tected (obsolete)
• tectly (obsolete, rare)

References

• “†?Tect, ppl. a.” listed on page 137 of volume IX, part II (Su–Th), § ii (T) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1919]
  ??†?Tect, ppl. a.?Obs. rare.?[ad. L. tect-us, pa. pple. of teg?re to cover.]?Covered, hidden.?(Const. as pa. pple.?See also Tectly.)?So †?Te·cted.?[¶]?c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. vi. 180 With chaf or fern this boordis do be tecte.?Ibid. viii. 79 The tuppe is chosun fair of altitude, Ywombed side, and tecte in whitest wolle.?c 1557 Abp. Parker Ps. cxv. 332 Why els no doubt, the Heathen sect, Would say where is their God so tect??1657 Tomlinson Renou’s Disp. 459 The shells wherewith they are tected.
• “†tect, ppl. a.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 2

From the Latin t?ctum (“roof”), neuter substantive of t?ctus (“covered”); see above. Doublet of tectum.

Noun

tect (plural tects)

1. (obsolete, rare) A roof.

References

• “†?Tect, sb.” listed on page 137 of volume IX, part II (Su–Th), § ii (T) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1919]
  ??†?Tect, sb.?Obs. rare^?—?1.?[ad. L. tect-um roof, prop. neut. of tectus, pa. pple. ‘covered’: see next.]?A roof.?In comb. te·ct-demo·lished a., having the roof demolished, disroofed.?[¶]?1632?Lithgow Trav. x. 432 Tect-demolished Churches, vnpassable Bridges.
• “†tect, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]