acerbitas

Forms

acerbitās f (genitive acerbitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin acerbus + -tās, from the adjective “sour, harsh”.^[2][3][4] De Vaan reports Schrijver's view that ⟨acerbus⟩ contains an adjective ⟨*akro-⟩ “sharp”, beside ācer (“sharp”); he derives ⟨ācer⟩ from Proto-Italic *ā̆kri- (“sharp”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-ro- (“sharp”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[3] who speaks figuratively of fruits not rich and pleasant but mixed with great sourness.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is sourness or harshness of taste, like that of unripe fruit.^[2][1] Of people and actions it is harshness, severity or cruelty, as Cicero's “harshness imitates justice”, and of writings a satirical edge, as Quintilian's sharpness and wit in Lucilius.^[2] It is also a painful experience or distress, and ill feeling, bitterness or spleen, as Cicero's great bitterness and hatred.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “bitterness, evil, sinfulness”.^[6] English acerbity is from it in the 1570s, through French.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of sour fruit, of severity and of bitterness.^[2][3]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of the satirical edge of Lucilius.^[2][3]
• 1570s – English acerbity.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sourness, harshness of taste.^[2][4][1]
2. Harshness, severity, cruelty; in writing, asperity.^[2][1]
3. A painful experience, suffering, distress.^[2][1]
4. Ill feeling, bitterness, spleen.^[2][6]

Related words

• acerbus
• ācer
• exacerbō
• English acerbity

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com