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aciditas

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word aciditas

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 400 Marcellus Empiricus More words from the 4th century
Ultimate origin
Latin acidus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin aceō
Latin acidus
French acide
English acid
Latin aciditās
English acidity
From the same root
Latin acētum ← aceō
English acidic ← acid

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aˈkɪ.dɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈt͡ʃiː.di.tas][1]

Forms

aciditās f (genitive aciditātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin acidus (“sour”) + -tās,[2][3][4] and the adjective belongs with aceō (“to be sour”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only ancient record is in the medical work of Marcellus Empiricus (about AD 400), who speaks of a remedy that takes away sourness of the stomach; the TLL takes his plural aciditates as acid humours.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In medieval medicine it meant sourness as a quality, as in Constantine the African on the taste in the mouth, and a sour substance.[6] Roger Bacon wrote of the acidity of wine being driven off by the heat of the sun.[7] English took acidity in the 1610s, from French acidité or directly from Latin;[4] Conte derives Italian acidità from the Late Latin word.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 400 AD – Marcellus Empiricus uses it of sourness of the stomach.[2][5]
  • 1610s – Borrowed into English as acidity, directly or through French.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) Sourness, acidity, especially of the stomach.[3][9][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A sour substance.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Aciditas.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aciditas. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·