▪ I. acuminate, ppl. a.
(əˈkjuːmɪnət)
[ad. L. acūmināt-us pa. pple. of acūminā-re to point; f. acūmen, acūmin-, see acumen.]
1. Pointed, tapered or tapering to a point. esp. in Nat. Hist.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 369 The Nightingale hath some disadvantage in the tongue; which is not acuminate and pointed as in the rest, but seemeth as it were cut off. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. i. 16 If the Occipitium transgresse its bounds the Head is acuminate. a 1661 B. Holyday Juv. 210 The other [tiara] upright and acuminate, worn only by kings. 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxix. 454 You will know it by the lance-shaped, acuminate leaves. 1874 E. Coues Birds of N.-West 401 The tail equals, or rather exceeds, the wing in length, and consists of twenty very narrow acuminate feathers. 1875 Blake Zool. 201 The teeth are conical, acuminate, and crowded. |
b. absol. quasi-n. A pointed form.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. (1640) 109 He had on his Head a pair of Hornes, riseing in a sharp acuminate to Heaven. |
† 2. Having acumen, sharp-witted. Obs. rare.
| 1654 Gayton Festiv. Notes iv. v. 198 Rare, acuminate, quick and phantasticall blades of your employment, that have hundred witty Remoras for their guests. |
▪ II. acuminate, v.
(əˈkjuːmɪneɪt)
[f. L. acūmināt- ppl. stem of acūminā-re; see prec.]
1. trans. To sharpen, to point; to give poignancy or keenness to.
| 1611 Coryat Crudities 452 Where the thicknesse doth begin to be acuminated in a slender toppe. a 1800 Cowper in Hayley Life II. 250 Tones so dismal, as to make woe itself insupportable, and to acuminate even despair. 1806 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. IV. 613 They often supply an agreeable variation of imagery, and serve to acuminate attention. 1879 Cornh. Mag. Dec., 689 The work has been revised and acuminated. |
† 2. intr. To rise or taper to a point. Obs. rare.
| 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. vi. (1851) 128 Their hierarchies acuminating still higher and higher in a cone of Prelaty. |