Etymograph

English

acerbity

Acerbity comes from Latin acerbus ‘bitter’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-1‘sharp’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*akriðos2reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacerbus1‘bitter’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacerbitās1
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentacerbité1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1848acerbity1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English acerbity
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin acerbus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Elizabeth Gaskell, London: Chapman and Hall: “[…] the recollection of that yesterday […] made him…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-Wiktionary, English acerbity‘sharp’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*akriðosWiktionary, Latin acerbusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacerbusWiktionary, English acerbity‘bitter’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacerbitāsWiktionary, English acerbity
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentacerbitéWiktionary, English acerbity
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1848acerbityWiktionary, English acerbity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Elizabeth Gaskell, London: Chapman and Hall: “[…] the recollection of that yesterday […] made him…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’

hear, edge, egg, ear, acid, hammer, eager, axe, acute, oxide, vinegar, mediocre, acne, paragon, acupuncture, mediocrity, hark, acacia, acetate, acumen, acme, acyl, acuity, roselle, acrimony, acrid, rosacea, 72 more

through Latin acerbus ‘bitter’

exacerbate, exacerbation, 5 more

Today it means

noun Sourness of taste, with bitterness and astringency, like that of unripe fruit.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “acerbity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin acerbus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- / acerbity

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