You can think of tardy as one word for slow, wearing an official coat. Someone or something is behind where it should be by now. Whether that means arriving after the bell, dragging on a job, or a line written in the attendance book, the picture underneath stays the same.
tardy 可以想成「慢」這個畫面，外面披了一件公事化的外衣。某個人、某件事，落在它該在的時間後面。這個字跟 late 的差別不在意思，在語氣：它聽起來像通知單、像點名表、像客氣的書信。抓住「慢一拍，而且被正式記下來」這個感覺，三個用法就都連得起來——人晚到、事情拖著、以及紀錄上那一筆。
From the word’s history
From an earlier tardive, from French tardif, from Late Latin tardivus and Latin tardus, meaning slow.
往回追是更早的 tardive，再往前是法文 tardif、晚期拉丁文 tardīvus、拉丁文 tardus，意思就是「慢」。可以想成：這個字從頭到尾都是「慢」，英文只是把它分給了兩個位置——人來得慢，和事情做得慢。
Wiktionary entry for tardy (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:686150867), etymology section
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