Etymology

acerbic

a·cer·bic
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Today it means: Tasting sour or bitter. Full definition →

Latin acerbus ← Proto-Italic *akriðos ← Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱrós
  3. Proto-Italic*akris
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  5. Proto-Italic*akriðos
  6. Latinacerbus
  7. English todayacerbic

Attested since the 17th century, from Latin acerbus (“sour, bitter”).

Words from the same roots

Latinacerbus all →

acerb

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.