austere, a. (n.)
(ɔːˈstɪə(r))
Forms: 4 auster, 7 -eer, 4– austere; also 4 austerene, awsterne (hausterne), 4–6 austerne, 6 austrun, astern.
[a. OF. austere (14th c. in Littré), ad. L. austērus, a. Gr. αὐστηρός making the tongue dry and rough, hence, harsh, severe, f. αὔειν to dry. The adscititious -n, common in 14–16th c., is perhaps due to contact of form and sense with stern adj.; cf. quot. 1388 in sense 3. The appearance of the senses in Eng. does not correspond to the logical development in Gr.]
A. adj.
1. Uniting astringency with sourness or bitterness; harsh in flavour, rough to the taste.
| 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 H j b, I cal austere..a lytell adstryngent. 1601 Holland Pliny Gloss., Austere, harsh or hard, as in fruits vnripe, and hard wines of hedge grapes. 1664 Evelyn Pomona Advt. (1729) 78 Austere Fruit..no better than a sort of full succulent Crabs. 1784 Cowper Task i. 122 The bramble, black as jet, or sloes austere. 1854 Hooker Himal. Jrnls. I. vi. 143 Both ripen austere and small fruits. |
† 2. Of colour: Dingy, sombre. (So in L.) Obs.
| 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 227 A Chrysoprasus: a Gemm of an austere colour. |
3. Harsh to the feelings generally; stern in manner or appearance; rigorous, judicially severe.
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 54 Þei dred þe kyng folle sore, for he was fulle austere. 1382 Wyclif Luke xix. 21, I dredde thee, for thou art an austerne [1388 a stern] man..I am an hausterne [1388 a stern] man. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. ix. 664 Persecutiowne, Ðat wes austere and fellowne. 1513 Douglas æneis x. xii. 59 Wyth astern fyry ene. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 371 With drawin swordis and with austrun face. 1656 Bp. Hall Breath. Devout Soul (1851) 192 O thou, who justly holdest thyself wronged with the style of an austere Master. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 248 They would be gentle, not austere. |
b. Stern in warfare, grim.
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 28 Werred on Athelstan with oste fulle austere. Ibid. 263 Þe folk..wer first auster and smerte. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) I. xxx. 250 Simon, Count de Montfort, an austere warrior. |
† c. transf. Rugged, forbidding. Obs.
| 1686 Cotton Montaigne (1877) I. 75 Difficulties.. render it austere and inaccessible. |
4. Severe in self-discipline or self-restraint, stringently moral, strict, abstinent.
| c 1375 Wyclif Serm. i. Sel. Wks. 1869 I. 1 An ypocrite þat shewide him to the world boþe austerne and clene. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 59 Which holy vndertaking with most austere sanctimonie, she accomplisht. 1772 Priestley Nat. & Rev. Relig. (1782) I. 319 John..led a remarkably austere life. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 249 To these austere fanatics a holiday was an object of positive disgust. |
5. Grave, sober, serious.
| 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 272 Eve..With sweet austeer composure thus reply'd. 1858 Longfellow M. Standish 31 Men in the middle of life, austere and grave in deportment. |
6. Severely simple in style, unadorned; without any luxury.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. (1632) 390 This austere repast they took in the Euening. 1795 Mason Ch. Mus. i. 47, I demand no austere solemnity of strain; but I would reject all levity of air. 1852 Conybeare & H. St. Paul (1862) I. ix. 280 The austere comfort of an English jail. |
B. as n. An austere substance.
| 1760 Rutty Phil. Trans. LI. 471 Galls and other austeres. |