▪ I. acute, a. (and n.)
(əˈkjuːt)
[ad. L. acūt-us pa. pple. of acu-ĕre to sharpen.]
A. adj.
1. Sharp at the end, coming to a sharp point, pointed. acute angle, one less than a right angle.
| 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. xi. 3 An acute angle is that, which is lesse then a right angle. 1599 A. M. Gabelhouer's Phys. 29/1 Take the extreamest acute toppes of sage. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Bartholinus, Anat. iv. ii. 162 Growing smaller by little and little, it terminates with an acute end. 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvi. 179 The stigma which was obtuse in that, is acute in this. 1842 Gray Struct. Bot. iii. §4 (1880) 97 Leaves may be.. acute, ending in an acute angle, without special tapering. 1879 Northcott in Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 2/2 The softer the material the more acute should be the angle of the cutting tool. |
2. Of diseases: Coming sharply to a point or crisis of severity; opposed to chronic. Also fig. Severe; crucial.
| 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 546 She had every year an acute disease or two. 1727 Arbuthnot John Bull 64 It is plainly an acute distemper, and she cannot hold out three days. 1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. 13 Diseases which last but a short time are called Acute. 1877 Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 228 Acute rheumatism is distinctly a hereditary disease. 1932 ‘E. Price’ Enter—Jane i. 11 Jane Turpin's financial position..might well be described as acute. 1941 Spectator 12 Dec. 547/1 For months past a state of acute tension has existed in the Far East. 1942 Punch 4 Feb. 83/2 Housing Shortage Grows Acute. |
b. Of a ward, bed, etc.: designated or reserved for patients with an acute disease.
| 1958 Economist 1 Nov. 402/1 St George's seems to have ousted St Thomas's from the position of being the most expensive acute hospital in the country. 1968 Listener 29 Aug. 258/2 Within the hospital grounds there is almost certainly a well-equipped acute-admission unit, staffed by physicians trained in psychiatry. 1977 Lancet 9 July 99/2 The hospital..is planned as an integrated teaching hospital and medical school with 746 acute beds. |
3. Of pain, pleasure, etc.: Acting keenly on the senses; keen, poignant, intense.
| 1727 Swift Poisoning of Curll Wks. 1755 III. i. 150 The symptoms encreased violently, with acute pains in the lower belly. 1855 Bain Senses & Intell. ii. i. §12 (1864) 97 The pleasure is not what would be called acute, or of great intensity. 1876 Grote Ethical Frag. i. 10, A man may feel sympathy in the most acute degree. |
† 4. Of tastes or odours: Sharp, pungent. Obs.
| 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 186 It..offendeth the head with acute vapours. 1638 T. Whitaker Bl. of Grape 24 Let us take a taste, and principally pierce these four vessels, sweet, acute, austere, and mild. |
5. Of sounds: Sharp or shrill in tone; high; opposed to grave or low. acute accent: see accent 1, 2. Also applied to the mark ({nfacu}) by which this is indicated, or to a letter so marked for any purpose, as e acute (é).
| 1609 Douland Ornith. Microl. 70 An acute accent..musically..is the regular eleuation of the finall words or syllables according to the custome of the Church. 1656 tr. Hobbes, Elem. Philos. (1839) 488 Bodies when they are stricken do yield some a more grave, others a more acute sound. 1779 Johnson L.P., Dryden Wks. 1816 IX. 392 The English heroick [is formed of] acute and grave syllables variously disposed. 1855 Bain Senses & Intell. ii. ii. §8 (1864) 215 The cry of a bat is so acute as to pass out of the hearing of many persons. 1875 Ouseley Princ. Harmony i. 3 The most acute [stave] is called the soprano. |
6. Of the senses or nervous system: actively, Keen, sharp, quick in catching or responding to impressions. Hence passively, Sensitive to impressions, delicate, finely-strung.
| 1762 Kames Elem. Critic. xvi. (1833) 216 The acutest and most lively of our external senses. 1812 Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1851) ii Her feelings were very acute, and too little understood to be properly attended to. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 528 The jealousy of the Admiral was acute. 1878 G. Macdonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. xix. 365 His hearing is acute at all times. |
7. Of the intellectual powers: Having nice or quick discernment; penetrating, keen, sharp-witted, shrewd, clever. Opposed to dull, stupid, obtuse. In the sense of sharp in business, shrewd, it is familiarly aphetized, esp. in U.S., to 'cute.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 67 A most acute Iuuenal; voluble and free of grace. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man Out of Hum. iii. iii. 20 The most divine, and acute lady in court. 1755 Young Centaur i. (1757) IV. 125 Acutest understandings in religious debates often lose their edge. 1788 Reid Aristotle's Logic vi. §1. 128 Chillingworth was the acutest logician as well as the best reasoner of his age. 1814 Davy Agric. Chem. 65 Such a circumstance could not be lost upon so acute an observer. 1863 Burton Book Hunter 102 Bargains may be obtained off the counters of the most acute. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 112 About as cute a thing as you've seen in many a day. 1882 Manch. Even. Mail 31 May, American girls, in fact, appear to be as cute as the masculine Yankee. |
B. quasi-n. sc. accent.
| 1609 Douland Ornith. Microl. 70 The circumflex is..contrary to the acute, for it begins with the acute, and ends with the grave. 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. ii. iii. 34 The five vowels marked with acutes over them. |
Comb. In synthetic derivatives, in -ed, as acute-angled, having an acute angle.
Add: [2.] [b.] Also acute-care.
| 1971 N.Y. Times 17 Feb. (Late City ed.) 32/3 The Department of Health, Education and Welfare..would provide $16.4 million this year for construction of new acute-care hospital facilities. 1985 Times 21 Mar. 37/4 (Advt.), Greenslopes is an acute-care teaching hospital of 417 beds. |
▪ II. † aˈcute, v. Obs.
[f. prec.]
1. To sharpen, quicken (a quality). rare.
| 1637 Nabbe Microc. in Dodsley O. Pl. IX. 163 As it acutes Sloth often into diligence, despair May be hope's cause. |
2. To pronounce or mark with an acute accent (perh. only in pple. acuted).
| 1751 Wesley in Wks. 1872 XIV. 80 Monosyllables, unless contracted, are acuted. 1775 T. Sheridan Reading 115 Whereas every last syllable in the Scotch is acuted. |