acumen Latin · revision 3990

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Ennius|origins=la acus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [aˈkuː.mɛn]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈkuː.men]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''acūmen''' ''n'' (genitive acūminis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|acuō|-men|t1=to sharpen]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''Acuō'' is related to [[acus]] “needle”.^(Wiktionary) Douglas Q. Adams has compared it with [[txb|akwam]], which he derives from [[ine-pro|*h₂eḱ-u-mn-]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ennius, in the Annals, has the point of iron whistling as shields resound.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a sharp point, of a weapon, a stylus or the nose of a dying man in Lucretius, and the sting of insects.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein distinguishes ''acumen'', a point made for piercing, from ''acies'', a sharp edge made for cutting.^(Döderlein 1874) Pliny uses it in the plural of sharpness of flavour.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Its most lasting sense was mental sharpness, with or without ''ingenii'', as in Cicero, and in the plural clever tricks.^(OLD 2012) In music theory it was the high pitch of a sound, opposed to depth.^(TLL) Medieval writers also used it of urgency, subtlety and a summit.^(Köbler 2010) English ''acumen'' “keen insight” was borrowed in the 1530s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the point of a weapon.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the tip of the nose.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of mental acuteness.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English ''acumen'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sharp [[m|en|point]], tip.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|sting]] of an insect.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' Sharpness of flavour.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Mental [[m|en|acuteness]], shrewdness, ''(plural)'' clever tricks.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(music)'' High pitch.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[acūminō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|acumen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein contrasts it with ''acies'' “edge”: the ''acies mentis'' sifts what is confused, the ''acumen'' penetrates what is hidden.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}