Etymologically
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acerbus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aˈkɛr.bʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈt͡ʃɛr.bus][1]

Forms

acerbus (feminine acerba, neuter acerbum, comparative acerbior, superlative acerbissimus, adverb acerbē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Italic *akri-þo- (“having sharpness”) or *akro-þo-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) of ācer “sharp”.[2][1][3] Nussbaum sees in it the same suffix that elsewhere gives Latin -idus.[2][1] Lewis & Short compare superbus beside super.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant sour, bitter or harsh to the taste, as the sea is acerbus in Lucretius, and of fruit unripe or green, as Cato's oil from the greenest olives.[3] Figuratively it was said of people who are hostile or pitiless, of a death that comes too early, of feelings that are keen or bitter, of grievous events and pains, and of strict or morose people.[3]

In medieval glosses it was also a crab apple.[7] English acerbic was taken from it in 1865, and exacerbō “to make bitter” gave English exacerbate in the 1650s.[8] It was borrowed into Italian acerbo and French acerbe.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato makes the best oil from the greenest olives.[3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of children carried off by an untimely death.[3][6]
  • 1865 – English acerbic is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sour, bitter (to the taste).[3]
  2. Unripe, green; immature.[3]
  3. Hostile, pitiless, harsh.[3]
  4. (of death) Untimely.[3]
  5. Keen, bitter (of feelings); grievous.[3]
  6. Strict, severe, morose.[3]

Word family

  • acerbitās
  • acerbitūdō
  • acerbō
  • peracerbus
  • sēmiacerbus
  • acerbē
  • ācer
  • English acerbic
  • English exacerbate

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts acerbus, a biting bitterness opposed to mītis, with amārus, a nauseous bitterness opposed to dulcis.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper