acute

Adjektiv

1. 1

   Brief, quick, short.

   It was an acute event.

2. 2

   High or shrill.

   an acute accent or tone

   The nimble Fly's Wings quicker were / Than those of her Competitor [a bee], / As may by this appear; / For an acuter Tone they made, / And in a ſharper Key they play'd, / (Which made the matter clear.)

   The acuteness of sound in stringed instruments depends on three circumstances—length, thickness, and tension. The shorter, smaller, and tighter a string, the more acute the sound. […] In the violin, when you desire an acute sound, you tighten the string. When you wish a loud sound, you draw the bow over the strings heavily.

3. 3

   Intense; sensitive; sharp.

   She had an acute sense of honour

   Eagles have very acute vision.

   It was at this time that the discord between Dmitri and his father seemed at its acutest stage and their relations had become insufferably strained.

4. 4

   Urgent.

   His need for medical attention was acute.

5. 5

   With the sides meeting directly to form an acute angle (at an apex or base).

   204. Eremophila abietina […] Corolla 23–35 mm long, cream or very pale lilac, lobes faintly metallic bluish green or lilac, tube occasionally brownish, prominently purple spotted; outer and inner surfaces glandular-pubescent; lobes acute, lobe of lower lip strongly reflexed.

6. 6

   Less than 90 degrees.

   The teacher pointed out the acute angle.

   Chlorophosphuret of nitrogen (at ordinary temperatures) is a solid crystalline body. […] The form of the crystals, as obtained by sublimation, is that of a rhomboid, of which the obtuse angle measures 131° or 132°, the acute 48° or 49°: the acute angle of this rhomboid, either at one or both ends, is often truncated, when of course the angle formed is about 114°: the hexagonal prism is also found.

7. 7

   Having all three interior angles measuring less than 90 degrees.

   an acute triangle

8. 8

   historischOf an accent or tone: generally higher than others.

   Let this [the word alalal] be ſpoken as an Engliſh word, with the ſtrong accent on either ſyllable, or, on each, in repeating the word; and, no change of articulation diſturbing the ear, it will be abundantly evident that, with ordinary Engliſh pronunciation, the strengthened syllable has always the acuter tone, or, in muſical phraſe, the higher note.

9. 9

   veraltendSharp, produced in the front of the mouth. (See Grave and acute on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )

10. 10

    Of an abnormal condition of recent or sudden onset, in contrast to delayed onset; this sense does not imply severity, unlike the common usage.

    He dropped dead of an acute illness.

11. 11

    Of a short-lived condition, in contrast to a chronic condition; this sense also does not imply severity.

    The acute symptoms resolved promptly.

    Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.

12. 12

    Of a letter of the alphabet, having an acute accent.

    The last letter of ‘café’ is ‘e’ acute.

    Commonly used European accents are available as below: / á Á a acute / […] / é É e acute / […] / í Í i acute / […] / ó Ó o acute / […] / ú Ú u acute

Substantiv

1. 1

   umgangssprachlichA person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia.

   Anne Marie had been assigned a ‘constant supervision’ status. […] Always avoiding the unrest of the television lounge, she would sometimes join some of the older ‘acutes’ who sat isolated in metal chairs at the end of the hallway and gaze out of the window with them.

2. 2

   historischAn accent or tone higher than others.

   [I]t would be strange if we wer to recite Homer, raising our voices on the acutes, lowering them on the graves, and managing the circumflexes as well as we could, yet to recite Virgil without any of these regular elevations, depressions, and circumbendibus.

3. 3

   An acute accent (´).

   The word ‘cafe’ often has an acute over the ‘e’.

   The number of Notes in this Table, without either acute or grave marks (´ or `), is 75. Of those bearing one acute mark (´) it is 74, of those with two acutes (´´) 70, with three acutes (´´´ or ´³) 51, […]

   The five vowels marked with acutes over them, it is probable, were first contrived to assist the ignorant monks in reading the church service, that by this means they might arrive to a proper and settled pronunciation in the discharge of their sacerdotal duties; […]

Verb

1. 1

   To give an acute sound to.

   He acutes his rising inflection too much.

   Polyſyllables having their Penultima long by poſition are acuted; as Camíllus: but having it long by nature and the last ſhort, they are circumflected; as, Românus, amâre: except the Compounds of ſit, whose Ultima is acuted; as Malefít, calefít, benefít, ſatisfít.

   This word ωροπαροξύνον has been generally underſtood, before Dr. G[ally] undertook to explain it otherwiſe, to ſignify "acuting the antepenultima."

   O is a broad vowel. When acuted, it is pronounced as o in gone; thus, cron, son; when circumflexed, as o in bone; thus, ôney. And thus it answers to the Greek Omicron and Omega.

2. 2

   altertümlichTo make acute; to sharpen, to whet.

   It had been over a week that I had not been over to visit my most favorable place. Since I was allowed a rare opening that jaggled an intense curiosity, it acuted my senses with great anticipation that a living current was felt in my center, brought on by something truly new.

Formen

Plural

acutes

Komparativ

acuter, more acute

Superlativ

acutest, most acute

Präteritum

acuted

Partizip II

acuted

Partizip I

acuting

3. Person Singular

acutes