retardare

Retardare is an Italian verb that means “to delay” or “to postpone.” The term is derived from the Latin word retardare, which in turn comes from retardare (to hold back) composed of re- (back) and tardare (to be slow). The verb is regularly conjugated in Italian and is commonly used in everyday language as well as in legal, business, and academic contexts.

In present tense the conjugation is as follows: io ritardo, tu ritardi, lui/lei ritarda, noi retardiamo, voi ritardate, loro retardano. The past participle is ritardato, and the compound tense uses il passato prossimo: ho ritardato. The gerund is retardando. The verb can be used transitively ("ritardare un progetto") or intransitively ("i tempi sono ritardati").

The noun form, ritardo, refers to a delay or lag, and the related adjective ritardato denotes something delayed or late. Other derivative terms include ritardamento (act of delaying) and ritardatore (something that delays). In legal and bureaucratic documents the word appears as “ritardo di consegna” (delivery delay) or “ritardo di pagamento” (payment delay).

In many contexts, precisions are needed to distinguish between a substantial postponement and minor lag. Synonyms in Italian include “rinviare” (to postpone), “posticipare”, and “tardia” (late), though each carries nuances of meaning. The verb is frequently used in business meeting minutes, travel itineraries, and project management reports to indicate planned or unexpected delays.