Today's Word "Acumen"
Published in Vocabulary
acumen \AE-kyu-mehn\ (noun) - Sharpness of perception, keenness of mind, precise insightfulness.
"Kay is not only intelligent and well-educated; her acumen leads us through the murkiest problems quickly and surely."
Today's word comes from Latin acumen "acuteness, keenness" from acuere "to sharpen," akin to acus "needle." The past participle of this verb, "acutus," came to English as "acute." The Greek word for "needle" is very similar, "akis." The Greek words akme "point" and akros "topmost," from which we get "acrobat," come from the same Proto-Indo-European root, *ak- "sharp." It also turns up in Greek oxus "sour," found in our own sweet "oxygen." In the Germanic languages, this root became English "edge" and in Old Norse eggja "to goad, incite." Old English borrowed the Norse word as the verb "egg (on)," which is totally unrelated to the noun "egg."
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