acerbe

Forms

acerbe (plural acerbes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin acerbus (“sour, sharp, harsh”), which in Late Latin also meant “aggressive, hard” in a figurative way.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adjective is formed on acer (“sharp”),^[5][6] and Rey connects it with the root of acidus, aciēs and acus (“needle”), and so ultimately with Proto-Indo-European *ak-.^[3] Littré compares âcre and the other words of this root meaning “pointed, stinging”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in Everat's Genèse (1192–1198), is figurative: Mult ameres et mult acerbes, of the human mouth and heart, meaning “hard, cruel, wicked”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it meant “cruel” or “hard, severe” and was said of words and feelings.^[3][2] In the 16th century this abstract value split into “wicked” (1545) and, of things, “painful, distressing”, senses that have since disappeared.^[3][4][7] At the same time the concrete sense of classical Latin, “sour and harsh to the taste”, was taken up again (about 1570), as when Liébault's Maison rustique speaks of fruits austeres et acerbes (1572);^[3][2] it survives only as a learned word, in gastronomy and wine tasting.^[3][8] The figurative sense, applied to words and to the expression of feelings, is the living one.^[3][5] The adverb acerbement (15th century) has stayed rare, and acerbité was borrowed from Latin acerbitās.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1192–1198 – First recorded in Everat's Genèse, meaning “hard, cruel”.^[2]
• Early 13th century – Gautier de Coinci speaks of ameres bouches et acerbes.^[2]
• c. 1327 – Acerbité is recorded, according to the Petit Robert.^[5][3]
• 1545 – It is used in the sense “wicked”.^[3]
• 1572 – Liébault applies it to unripe fruit, “sour, sharp”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary, dated) Sour and harsh to the taste, as of unripe fruit.^[5][7][2]
2. Acerbic, cutting: meant to wound, critical in a spiteful way: une critique acerbe, un ton acerbe.^[5][9][7]

Related words

• âcre
• aigre
• Latin acerbus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)