acrid

Etymology

It is irregularly borrowed from Latin ācris (“sharp, bitter, pungent”), a variant and feminine form of ācer,^[2][3] with the English suffix -id,^[2][4][5] probably on the model of acid.^{[6][7][5][8][9][10]} Ayto says the ending was artificially grafted on,^[10] Klein calls the word a blend of the Latin adjective and acidus (“sour”),^[11] and Etymonline also considers the influence of acrimonious.^[3] The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ak- (“to be sharp, rise to a point, pierce”),^[3][10][6] the base also of acūtus and acerbus,^[2] and of acute, oxygen and edge.^[10] The OED compares Middle French acre, later âcre, of a strong or irritating odour or taste, recorded from 1564.^[2] Acrious is a more regular formation, which Merriam-Webster says acrid replaced,^[4] though the OED and Etymonline treat it as the later word.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bitterly pungent to the taste or smell, or irritating to the skin: 1633, in T. Johnson's new edition of Gerard's Herball.^[2][4] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to 1712,^[3][7] and the Shorter Oxford to the early 18th century;^[5] the OED's entry, revised in 2011, has the earlier record, and it takes a 1547 quotation for acridity to imply much earlier currency.^[2] A Middle English translation of Guy de Chauliac, probably from before 1425, also has an apparently isolated acre taken from the Latin adjective, of sharp bodily humours.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first described what stings the senses, and it then passed to feelings and temper: the OED records "bitterly irritating to the feelings" from 1681, in J. Bairdy's Balm from Gilead,^[2] while Etymonline dates the use to 1781 and the Shorter Oxford to the late 18th century.^[3][5] Johnson (1755) gave only the physical sense, "of a hot biting taste; bitter, so as to leave a painful heat upon the organs of taste".^[12] The Historical Thesaurus files the two senses under bitter taste and under sourness of temper.^[13] Today both are current, the second especially of speech and manner.^[9][4]

Timeline

• probably before 1425 – acre, an isolated Middle English use of the Latin adjective.^[2]
• 1633 – bitterly pungent to taste or smell, irritating to the skin.^[2][4] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to 1712.^[3][7]
• 1670s – acrious, a more regular formation.^[3]
• 1681 – bitterly irritating to the feelings; of a bitter temper or manner.^[2] Etymonline dates this use to 1781.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unpleasantly sharp and pungent to the taste or smell, or stinging to the skin: Thick, acrid smoke rose from the burning tyres.^[9][4][2]
2. Bitter and caustic in temper or speech; rancorous: The two rivals exchanged acrid letters for years.^[9][4][2]

Word family

• acridity
• acridly
• acridness
• subacrid

Related words

• acid
• acute
• acerb
• acrimonious
• acrious
• oxygen
• edge

Usage notes

A rare and obsolete noun acrid, a locust, was introduced by Sir John Cheke (before 1557) in his translation of the Gospel of Matthew; it is from Ancient Greek ἀκρίς (akrís, “locust”), of unknown origin, and has a separate source from the adjective.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)