acute

English

/əˈkjuːt/, /əˈkjut/

adj
Definitions
  • Brief, quick, short.
  • High or shrill.
  • Intense, sensitive, sharp.
  • Urgent.
  • (botany) With the sides meeting directly to form an acute angle (at an apex or base).
  • (geometry) Of an angle: less than 90 degrees.
  • (geometry) Of a triangle: having all three interior angles measuring less than 90 degrees.
  • (linguistics) Of an accent or tone: generally higher than others.
  • (medicine) Of an abnormal condition of recent or sudden onset, in contrast to delayed onset; this sense does not imply severity, unlike the common usage.
  • (medicine) Of a short-lived condition, in contrast to a chronic condition; this sense also does not imply severity.
  • (orthography) After a letter of the alphabet: having an acute accent.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English acūte (of a disease fever starting suddenly and lasting for a short time, of a humour irritating, musical note of high pitch, sharp, severe but short-lived fever, of blood corrosiveness, sharpness) derived from Latin acūta derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (sharp, pointed, edgy), *h₂eḱ- (sharp, pointed, edgy).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*h₂eḱ-

Gloss

sharp, pointed, edgy

Concept
Semantic Field

Sense perception

Ontological Category

Property

Kanji

鋭

Emoji
🪒

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms