The etymological root of untimely is found in the Latin word intempestīvus . The concept is used to describe what is out of time or out of time .
What takes place beyond the convenient or appropriate moment, or is inopportune or unforeseen , can be mentioned as untimely. For example : "The raid occurred unexpectedly and surprised the neighbors" , "The untimely closure of the company unleashed the fury of the workers" , "I liked the film, although its ending seemed somewhat untimely to me" .
Let's look at an action that can be considered untimely. Cars have a horn (also called a horn, horn or whistle), a device that allows the emission of acoustic signals. The driver can use this element to make a sound when he needs to draw the attention of the person driving another vehicle, something essential in some cases to avoid a collision or facilitate a maneuver necessary for traffic. However, untimely use of the horn causes noise pollution and is even grounds for fines in some places. Therefore, you should not sound the horn for fun or to annoy, as it is inappropriate and out of place.
Now suppose that the technical director of a soccer team decides to resign from his position just two days before the final of an important tournament. The coach chooses to abandon his job after an argument with the club president, and does not agree to reconsider his position or postpone his departure. It is an untimely departure : it leaves its players without a driver a few hours before a momentous match.
With respect to its etymology we can say that the term untimely is constructed from the following two components: the prefix in- (which denotes denial or lack of something), the term tempus (which means time as a magnitude in which it can be measured the duration of events and ordering them in a sequence so that it is possible to determine the past, present and future) and the -tive suffix (used to establish a passive or active relationship between the components that precede it). In summary, the meaning achieved by the union of these three parts is "that it is out of time."
As we saw in the previous paragraphs, an untimely action is truly inopportune, that is, it is carried out at a moment in time that is harmful to those who receive it. For this reason, we can understand that its etymology tells us about an event that has a negative relationship with time, that does not fit into its infinite line in a harmonious and logical way but rather acts outside of it.
To continue delving into the nuances of the meaning of untimely, we will see some of its most used synonyms: unforeseen, inconvenient, inopportune, inappropriate, unexpected, unexpected and extemporaneous . With respect to its antonyms we have indicated, adequate and appropriate .
Among the terms listed in the previous paragraph we can see a clear distinction between those that talk about something that takes place without prior notice, something that cannot be intuited or that comes at a bad time and those that focus on qualifying the act itself in a negative way. , regardless of the point in time at which they take place. In the first group we have unforeseen and unexpected , for example, while in the second we can mention inconvenient and inappropriate .
This link between time and the results of action seems natural since there should be a reason behind everything we do: starting from our own breathing, there is always a reason that drives us; When others do not perceive it, our behavior can seem untimely.