English → Latin
“acute” in Latin
acuōto make pointed, sharpen, whet; to exercise, practice, improve; to spur, stimulate, arousesagāxof quick perception, having acute senses; keen-scented; intellectually quick, keen, acute, shrewd, sagacious; magicalācersharp, sour, bitter, pungent; keen, sharp, acute, sagacious; energetic, active, vigoroussubtīlisfine, thin, slender; precise, accurate, keen; plain, unadorned, simplearguōto clarify, to make plain; to assert, declare, prove, show; to reprove, accuse, charge with; to blame, censureperspicāxsharp-sighted, quick-sighted, perspicacious
The English word acute itself goes back to Latin acus, through acūta.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
acute
sharp, propr. Vid: An acute angle, angulus acutus.
Of the senses, acutus: sagax (having a fine sense of hearing or smelling; sagacious). OBSERVE oculi acuti; oculi acres et acuti; visus acer: acer videndi sensus: nares acutae, nasus sagax, aures acutae.
Of the mental faculties, acutus (sharp): acer (vigorous, of powerful comprehension, penetrating): subtilis (fine, discriminating accurately): argutus (over-acute; making too fine distinctions): perspicax (clear-sighted). An acute understanding, ingenium acre or acutum: mens acris. Very acute, peracutus, peracer: to be very acute, acutissimo, acerrimo esse ingenio: ingenii acumine valere. To be an acute thinker, acrem esse in cogitando.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for acute?
- The usual Latin words for “acute” are acuō, sagāx, ācer; also subtīlis, arguō, perspicāx. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.