acute

Forms

acūtē (comparative acūtius, superlative acūtissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin acūtus (“sharp, pointed”) + -ē, the adverb of the participle of acuō (“to sharpen”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius has it first, in the Annals, of a hunting dog that yelps and howls shrilly.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Of sound it is at a high pitch, shrilly, and of seeing clearly, distinctly, as Lucretius says we cannot see sharply without it.^[1] Most often it is with mental sharpness, keenly, as Cicero exclaims how acutely the charges were put together, and says almost every hearer sees faults more keenly than merits; the superlative is in the De officiis.^[1] Köbler lists it from Cicero.^[2]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius, of a dog howling shrilly.^[1][2]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of seeing clearly.^[1][2]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of acute reasoning.^[1][2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Of sound, at a high pitch, shrilly.^[1]
2. Of seeing, clearly, distinctly.^[1]
3. With mental sharpness, acutely, keenly.^[1][3]

Related words

• acūtus
• acuō

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press