This week’s theme
Words that have changed

This week’s words
parboil
notorious
vedette
acerate
egregious

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(AS-uh-rayt)

MEANING:

adjective: Needlelike.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin acerosus (full of chaff), erroneously interpreted as derived from acus (needle) or acer (sharp), ultimately from the Indo-European root ak- (sharp), which is also the source of acrid, vinegar, acid, acute, edge, hammer, heaven, eager, oxygen, mediocre, acerbate, acidic, acidulous, acuity, and paragon. Earliest documented use: 1833.

USAGE:

“At once the air was hideous with the acerate harmony of a singing commercial.”
Sam Merwin Jr.; Judas Ram; Galaxy Science Fiction; Dec 1950.

See more usage examples of acerate in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: