Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Acumen
A-cu′men
,Noun.
Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination.
Selden.
Syn. – Sharpness; sagacity; keenness; shrewdness; acuteness.
Webster 1828 Edition
Acumen
ACU'MEN
,Noun.
A sharp point; and figuratively, quickness of perception, the faculty of nice discrimination.
Definition 2024
acumen
acumen
English
Noun
acumen (plural acumens)
- Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:
- Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes. […] But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
- No, no, my dear Watson! With all respect for your natural acumen, I do not think that you are quite a match for the worthy doctor.
- 1991, Silence Of The Lambs
- Hannibal Lecter: Why do you think he removes their skins, Agent Starling? Enthrall me with your acumen.
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- (botany) A sharp, tapering point extending from a plant.
- 1978, chapter 2, in The Potato Crop: The scientific basis for improvement, ISBN 978-0-412-12830-1, page 30:
- Herbs with long creeping stolons; leaves with coarse white hairs, or glabrous. The arched corolla lobes and large acumens give the corolla a circular appearance with acumens standing out sharply from it. Corolla occasionally, however, substellate.
- 1990, Cryptogamic Botany, Volume 2, page 315:
- In our opinion, specimens of I. pilifera represent a robust expression of I. sinensis with many stem and branch leaves becoming strongly concave and broadly ovate to obovate in outline, thereby intensifying the abrupt contraction of the pilaferous acumens. It is best accepted as a variety of N. comes. The length of leaf acumens is another variable character expressed by Barbella amoena. Thus, it is also better combined with the var. pilifera as a synonym.
- (anatomy) A bony, often sharp, protuberance, especially that of the ischium.
- c. 1918, University of California, Pamphlets on Biology: Kofoid collection, Volume 1586, page 692:
- The rostrum is the anterior extension of the carapace between the eyes. It ends in a more or less acute tip, or acumen, and may have a lateral spine on each side or bear a longitudinal keel (carina) on the dorsal surface.
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Synonyms
- (quickness of perception) sharpness, penetration, keenness, shrewdness, acuteness, acuity, wit, foxiness, intelligence, canniness
Translations
quickness of perception
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sharp, tapering point
bony protuberance
Latin
Etymology
From acuō (“make sharp or pointed, sharpen”) + -men (noun-forming suffix), from acus (“a needle, a pin”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /aˈkuː.men/, [aˈkuː.mẽ]
Noun
acūmen n (genitive acūminis); third declension
Inflection
Third declension neuter.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
nominative | acūmen | acūmina |
genitive | acūminis | acūminum |
dative | acūminī | acūminibus |
accusative | acūmen | acūmina |
ablative | acūmine | acūminibus |
vocative | acūmen | acūmina |
Derived terms
- acūminārius
- acūminō
Related terms
Descendants
- English: acumen
- Italian: acume
- Portuguese: gume, acume (borrowing), acúmen (borrowing)
- Spanish: acumen
References
- acumen in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- acumen in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “acumen”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- penetration; sagacity: ingenii acumen
- penetration; sagacity: ingenii acumen