acumen
(əˈkjuːmɪn, ˈækjʊmɪn)
[a. L. acūmen, anything sharp; sharpness, point; f. acu-ĕre to sharpen.]
1. Sharpness of wit; quickness or penetration of perception; keenness of discrimination.
| 1531 Elyot Governor i. xv. §4 Wherein is the chiefe sharpenes of witte, called in latin acumen. 1645 M. Casaubon Orig. Cause of Temp. Evils 54 Neither is the jest or acumen of them [epigrams] any wayes improved by it. 1678 Gale Crt. of Gentiles III. 124 So penetrant an acumen, so profound soliditie. 1764 Reid Inq. Hum. Mind i. §5. 102 The honour and reputation justly due to his metaphysical acumen. 1860 Motley Netherlands (1868) I. ii. 54 Mysteries..which no political sagacity or critical acumen could have divined. |
‖ 2. Bot. A tapering point. Gray Bot. Text-bk.
| 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxxi. 475 Mercurialis has two subulate acumens or sharp points. |