acetum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aˈkeː.tũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈt͡ʃɛː.tum]^[1]

Forms

acētum n (genitive acētī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from aceō (“to be sour”), originally the participle of a verb meaning “to turn sour”, with ⟨vīnum⟩ “wine” understood.^[2][3] Wiktionary explains the form as from acēscō on the model of ⟨cōnsuētus⟩.^[1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨aceō⟩ as Proto-Italic *akēje/o-, Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-eh₁- (“to be sharp”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Plautus.^[5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant sour wine, vinegar, and the tang of vinegar, and Cato has vinegar sweetened with honey, and the OLD's first citation is Livy.^[2][6] Varro notes that it has no plural.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means vinegar, acid.^[7] DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance ⟨*/aˈketu/⟩ “vinegar” and an adjective “sharp-tasting”.^[8] It survives as Italian aceto, and Old English eced “vinegar” was borrowed from it.^[1][5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato has honeyed vinegar.^[6][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Vinegar, sour wine.^[2][3]
2. The tang of vinegar.^[2]

Word family

• ace"to
• acētāria
• acētōsus
• acētābulum

Related words

• aceō
• acēscō
• ācer
• acidus

Usage notes

Pliny the Elder uses an acētum for virgin honey, which Gaffiot and Köbler take as a different word, from Greek ἄκοιτον.^[6][5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom