aigre

aigre

English

Etymology

French. See eager.

Adjective

aigre (comparative more aigre, superlative most aigre)

1. (obsolete) Alternative spelling of eager (“sour”)

Related terms

• vinegar

Anagrams

• Aegir, Argie, Gaier, aegir, aiger

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French

Etymology

From Old French aigre, from Vulgar Latin ācrus (possibly via a southern Gallo-Romance dialect), from Latin ācer (with a change in declension), from Proto-Italic *akris, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱrós (“sharp”). Doublet of âcre, which was borrowed from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɡʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

aigre (plural aigres)

1. sharp, sour, acid

   Synonym: acide

   cerises aigres

   sour cherries

2. shrill (voice); biting (wind etc.)
   • 2007, Georges Chétochine, La vérité sur les gestes, p. 169

     Le ton de sa voix un peu aigre et nasillard est parfaitement synchronisé avec son regard langoureux, humain.

     The sound of his voice, a little shrill and nasal, is perfectly synchronised with his languid, human look.

   la voix aigre des cornemuses

   the shrill voice of the bagpipes

Derived terms

• aigreur
• aigrir

Related terms

• vinaigre

Further reading

• “aigre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• gérai
• réagi

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Old French

Etymology

From Late Latin ācrus, from Latin ācer (with a change in declension), from Proto-Italic *akris, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱrós (“sharp”). The unexpected /ɡ/ may point to this form being borrowed from southern Gallo-Romance dialects.[1] Cf. the variant aire, which shows the phonologically regular outcome for Old French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (early) /ˈai̯ɡrə/
• IPA^(key): (late) /ˈɛɡrə/

Adjective

aigre m (oblique and nominative feminine singular aigre)

1. sharp, sour, acid

Descendants

• French: aigre
• → Middle English: egre, eger, egyr, egir, egur, egree
  • English: eager
  • Scots: eager
  • Yola: aagar
• ⇒ vinaigre
  • French: vinaigre
  • → Middle English: vynegre, fynegre, wyne-egre, vyneger, wynyger, venegre, vinegre, wyneger, vynagre, vinagir, vineger
    • English: vinegar
      • → Japanese: ビネガー (binegā)
    • Scots: veenegar
  • → Middle Irish: fínégra
    • Irish: fínéagar

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (aigre)
• "egre." Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2 Online Edition), Aberystwyth University, 2021. Web. 5 April 2021. https://anglo-norman.net/entry/egre.

1. “aigre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.