tardiva

Tardiva is the feminine singular form of the Italian adjective tardivo, meaning late or delayed. It is used to describe feminine nouns and agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies: tardivo (masculine singular), tardiva (feminine singular), tardivi (masculine plural), tardive (feminine plural). In ordinary Italian, tardiva can describe events, deadlines, deliveries, or phenomena that occur later than expected.

In everyday use, examples include una consegna tardiva (a late delivery), una scadenza tardiva (a late deadline), or una varietà tardiva (a late-maturing variety) in agricultural and horticultural contexts. The term is versatile and can apply to time-related delays across different domains.

In botanical and biological contexts, tardiva appears in botanical Latin as an epithet indicating late flowering or late ripening. When used in plant names, it signals that the species or form tends to mature or bloom later than related taxa. The epithet agrees with the gender of the genus name in Latinized usage.

Etymology traces tardiva to Latin tardivus, from tardus meaning late or slow. The word is distinct from tardive in French and from English tardive dyskinesia terminology, though it shares the same Latin root meaning late.

See also: tardivo, lateness, tardive.