âcre

Forms

âcre (plural âcres)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ācer (“sharp, pointed, pungent”), whose forms passed into the second declension in Vulgar Latin.^[2][3][1][4] It is the learned doublet of aigre, the inherited outcome of the same Latin word.^[2][3][1][5] Bloch and Wartburg say it was borrowed for a sensation stronger than sourness.^[6]

Bloch–Wartburg and the GLLF date it to the 14th century, but the Grand Robert and the TLFi show that this rests on a misreading: the spelling ⟨aucres⟩ quoted by Godefroy from a Girart de Roussillon text of 1334 is a bad transcription of ⟨ancrés⟩, a form of Old French engrès.^[6][5][7][2] Littré already noted that the word is not found in Old French and called it a new form modelled on Latin beside the old inherited form.^[8] The Rey dictionary thinks it was probably in use somewhat before 1606, and at first only in medicine.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicot's dictionary of 1606 is the first to record it, for a sharp taste or smell such as that of onions.^[2][7][4]

Semantic evolution

At first it seems to have been mostly a physicians' word: Richelet gives urine âcre in 1680, and Furetière in 1690 says that physicians call âcre any taste that leaves a burning heat on the tongue.^[2][3] It was used of taste, smell and also hearing.^[3]

Cotgrave in 1611 already applies it to a person in the sense “eager, sharp, vehement”,^[2] and the figurative use for what is irritating, aggressive or bitter remained mostly literary.^[3][4][9] The noun âcreté dates from before 1590, and the rare adverb âcrement from 1840.^[3]

Timeline

• 1606 – Nicot records âcre “sharp to the taste and smell”.^[2][7]
• 1611 – Cotgrave also gives the figurative sense, of a person.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records urine âcre, a medical use.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière defines the word as a physicians' term.^[2]
• 1762 – Âcreté is used figuratively.^[3]
• 1840 – First record of the adverb âcrement.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Strongly irritating to the taste or smell, burning the throat; acrid: une fumée âcre.^[4][9][2]
2. (figurative, literary) Bitter, painful or aggressive: d'âcres reproches.^[4][9][3]

Word family

• âcreté
• âcrement

Related words

• aigre
• acrimonie
• acrimonieux
• Latin ācer

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)