Etymologically
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astute

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Forms

astūtē (comparative astūtius, superlative astūtissimē)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin astūtus (“cunning”) + -ē (“adverbial suffix”).[2][3] The adjective is formed from astus (“cunning, craft”), which Old Latin has only in the ablative.[4] The Romans derived this from Ancient Greek ἄστυ (ástu, “town”), perhaps as a play on urbānē (“wittily”), but de Vaan finds the chronology difficult;[4] Vendryes proposed a u-stem *ad-stu- (“standing by”) from astō (“to stand by”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it first,[5][6] of devising something craftily (Epidicus).[7][5]

Semantic evolution

In comedy it was praise for a well-laid plan: Plautus pairs it with docte, “cleverly”, and in Terence's Andria a bare astute! means “shrewdly done!”.[7][3] Cicero uses it of keeping silent craftily.[3][5] The comparative astutius appears in Varro and the superlative astutissime in Gellius, Lactantius and Augustine.[3][5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of crafty devices.[7][5][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence has astute as an exclamation of approval.[7][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of crafty silence.[3][8]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses the comparative astutius.[3][8]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the comparative and superlative.[5][8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Cunningly, craftily, cleverly, astutely.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c 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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de