peracutus

Forms

peracūtus (feminine peracūta, neuter peracūtum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“very, thoroughly”) + acūtus (“sharp”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan lists acūtus among the derivatives of a stem ⟨acu-⟩ “pointed”, which goes back to Proto-Italic *aku- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-u- (“pointed”).^[4] Cognate with Lithuanian ãšutas (“hair of a horse's tail or mane”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[5] and the TLL calls it a word Cicero used often.^[3] In De oratore he speaks of very acute precepts for handling people's minds.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it of a very penetrating, clear voice in the Brutus,^[2][7] and more often of the mind: a man very sharp at thinking things out, a sharp and artful kind of speech, a man naturally very shrewd and prudent, and, ironically in the Philippics, little maxims that an opponent thinks very clever.^[2][8] The TLL notes that, unlike acutus and praeacutus, it is never used in its proper sense of tools; an older reading peracuta falce in Martial has been replaced in modern editions.^[3][7]

British medieval writers did use it of sharp things, a very sharp spit or the keen edge of a sword, and of a very acute fever.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of shrewd precepts and of a penetrating voice.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of sound) Very penetrating, shrill.^[2][8]
2. Intellectually very sharp, very shrewd.^[2][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Very sharp, keen-edged;^[9] (of disease) very acute.^[9]

Related words

• acūtus
• acuō
• praeacūtus

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c 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