English → Latin
“sharp” 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, perspicaciousacerbusharsh, bitter, unripe, sour, premature, not yet marriageable; sharp, severe, bitter (i.e., extremely painful); rough, vigravisheavy; pregnant; troublesome, hardamārusbitter (taste); harsh, shrill (sound); sarcastic (speech)
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
sharp
PROP., Of the senses, acutus: sagax (having a fine sense of hearing or smelling, sagacious). OBS., oculi acuti; oculi acres et acuti: visus acer; acer videndi sensus: nares aculae; nasus sagax: aures acutae.
Of the mental faculties, acutus (quick): acer (vigorous, penetrating): subtilis (fine, discriminating accurately): argutus (over-acute, making too fine distinctions): perspicax (clear-sighted). A sharp understanding, ingenium acre or acutum; mens acris: very sharp, peracutus, peracer: to be very sharp, acutissimo, acerrimo esse ingenio; ingenii acumine valere.
Violent, severe, acerbus; gravis. Sharp want, summa egestas, mendicitas: sharp hatred, acerbum odium: sharp cold, frigus acerbum.
Biting, cutting, reproachful, acerbus: amarus: mordax: aculeatus. Sharp words, voces contumeliosae, contumeliarum aculei: a sharp letter, litterae aculeatae: to use sharp language to anybody, aliquem gravissimis verborum acerbitatibus afficere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for sharp?
- The usual Latin words for “sharp” 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.