acerbe

Forms

acerbē (comparative acerbius, superlative acerbissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin acerbus (“harsh, bitter”) + -ē.^[2][1] De Vaan derives acerbus from an adjective Proto-Italic *akro- (“sharp”), the base also of ācer (“sharp”), which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-ro- (“sharp”).^[3] Cognate with Oscan akrid (“sharply”), Ancient Greek ἄκρος (ákros, “highest, outermost”) and Lithuanian aštrùs (“sharp”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] who uses it of a voice ringing out most harshly.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its senses follow the adjective: with a harsh sound, then cruelly or bitterly, as Cicero's attacking dear friends too harshly.^[2] With verbs of feeling it means with pain or annoyance, and acerbe ferre is to take something hard, a phrase Cicero uses often.^[2][5] It also means severely or strictly, as Livy's watches kept more strictly, and with verbs of dying, prematurely.^[2] Seneca contrasts acerbe et aspere with molliter.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a harsh voice, of bitter attacks and of an untimely death.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of watches kept strictly.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. With a harsh sound, stridently.^[2][1]
2. Cruelly, harshly, bitterly.^[2][1]
3. With pain or annoyance;^[2][5] acerbe ferre, to take something hard.^[2][5]
4. Severely, strictly.^[2][1]
5. Of dying, before one's time.^[2]

Related words

• acerbus
• ācer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften