acerbitas

acerbitas

Latin

Etymology

From acerbus (“bitter”) + -itās (“-ity”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /aˈker.bi.taːs/, [äˈkɛrbɪt̪äːs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /aˈt͡ʃer.bi.tas/, [äˈt͡ʃɛrbit̪äs]

Noun

acerbitās f (genitive acerbitātis); third declension

1. sourness of taste, with bitterness and astringency, like that of unripe fruit
2. (figuratively) harshness, severity
3. (figuratively) sorrow

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	acerbitās	acerbitātēs
Genitive	acerbitātis	acerbitātum
Dative	acerbitātī	acerbitātibus
Accusative	acerbitātem	acerbitātēs
Ablative	acerbitāte	acerbitātibus
Vocative	acerbitās	acerbitātēs

Descendants

• English: acerbity
• Italian: acerbità
• Portuguese: acerbidade
• Spanish: acerbidad

References

• “acerbitas”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “acerbitas”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• acerbitas in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to vent one's anger, spite on some one: virus acerbitatis suae effundere in aliquem (De Amic. 23. 87)