acuo

Latin > English (Lewis & Short)

ăcŭo: ui, ūtum, 3, v. a. (
I part. fut. acuturus, not used) [cf. 2. acer, to make sharp or pointed, to sharpen, whet.
I Lit.: ne stridorem quidem serrae audiunt, cum acuitur, Cic. Tusc. 1, 40; so, ferrum, Verg. A. 8, 386; Hor. C. 1, 2, 21: enses, Ov. M. 15, 776: gladium, Vulg. Deut. 32, 41: sagittas, id. Jer. 51, 11.—Poet.: fulmen, Lucr. 6, 278: dentes, Hor. C. 3, 20, 10; cf. Tib. 4, 3, 3.—
II Trop.
   A First, of the tongue, qs. to whet, i. e. to sharpen, exercise, improve: acuere linguam exercitatione dicendi, Cic. Brut. 97: linguam causis, Hor. Ep. 1, 3, 23; so Vulg. Psa. 139, 4; so in gen.: se, to exercise one's self, to make one's self ready: acueram me ad exagitandam hanc ejus legationem, Cic. Att. 2, 7: mentem, ingenium, prudentiam, etc.; to sharpen: multa, quae acuant mentem, multa quae obtundant, Cic. Tusc. 1, 33; so id. Brut. 33; id. Phil. 2, 17; id. de Or. 1, 20.—
   B Acuere aliquem (with or without ad aliquid), to spur on, incite, stir up, arouse: ad crudelitatem, Cic. Lig. 4; id. Fam. 15, 21: illos sat aetas acuet, Ter. Ad. 5, 3, 49; Cic. Rosc. Am. 33, 110: ita duae res, quae languorem afferunt ceteris, illum acuebant, otium et solitudo, id. Off. 3, 1; Liv. 28, 19: curis acuens mortalia corda, Verg. G. 1, 123: auditisque lupos acuunt balatibus agni, id. ib. 4, 435: quam Juno his acuit verbis, id. A. 7, 330.—
   C Aliquid, to rouse up, kindle, excite (mostly poet.): saevus in armis Aeneas acuit Martem et se suscitat irā, Verg. A. 12, 108: iram, Vulg. Sap. 5, 21: studia, Val. Max. 2, 2, no. 3.—
   D In gramm.: acuere syllabam, to give an acute accent to (opp. gravem ponere), Quint. 1, 5, 22; cf. Prisc. Op. Min. 159 Lind.: accentus acutus ideo inventus est, quod acuat sive elevet syllabam.—Hence, ăcūtus, a, um, P.a., sharpened, made pointed; hence,
   A Lit., sharp, pointed (acer denotes natural sharpness, etc.: acutus, that produced by exertion, skill, etc.: sermo acer, impassioned, passionate; sermo acutus, pointed, acute discourse): vide ut sit acutus culter probe, Plaut. Mil. 5, 4: ferrum, Hor. A. P. 304: cuspis, Verg. A. 5, 208: gladius, Vulg. Psa. 56, 5: carex, Verg. G. 3, 231; elementa, i. e. pointed, jagged atoms (opp. to perplexa, connected), Lucr. 2, 463: nasus, Plaut. Cap. 3, 4, 114: oculi, of a pointed shape, id. Ps. 4, 7, 121: aures, pointed, Hor. C. 2, 19, 4: saxa, id. ib. 3, 27, 61; so Verg. A. 1, 45.—
   2    Transf.
   a Of the senses themselves, sharp, keen: oculos acrīs atque cicutos, Cic. Planc. 66: nares, Hor. S. 1, 3, 29; Cels. 2, 6.—
   b Of objects affecting the senses, sharp, acute; of the voice, soprano or treble: inde loci lituus sonitus effudit acutos, Enn. ap. Paul. ex Fest. p. 116 Müll. (Ann. v. 522 ed. Vahl.): hinnitu, Verg. G. 3, 94: voces, id. Cir. 107; Ov. M. 3, 224: stridore, Hor. C. 1, 34, 15: vocem ab acutissimo sono usque ad gravissimum sonum recipiunt, from the highest treble to the lowest base, Cic. de Or. 1, 59, 251; cf. ib. 3, 57, 216; Somn. Scip. 5; Rep. 6, 18.—
   c In gen., of things affecting the body, of either heat or cold from their similar effects, keen, sharp, violent, severe: sol, Hor. Ep. 1, 10, 17: radii solis, Ov. H. 4, 159: gelu, Hor. C. 1, 9, 4; cf. Lucr. 1, 495; Verg. G. 1, 93; so, febris, Cels. 2, 4: morbus, id. 3 (opp. longus), rapid.— Subst. with gen.: acuta belli, violent, severe misfortunes of war, Hor. C. 4, 4, 76 (= graves belli molestias).—
   B Fig.
   1    Of intellectual qualities, acute, clear-sighted, intelligent, sagacious (very freq.): Antisthenes homo acutus magis quam eruditus, Cic. Att. 12, 37; so id. de Or. 1, 51; id. N. D. 1, 16; Nep. Dion. 8, 1: homo ingenio prudentiāque acutissimus, Cic. de Or. 1, 39: acutae sententiae, id. Opt. Gen. Or. 2, 5: motus animorum ad excogitandum acuti, id. Or. 1, 113: studia, id. Gen. 50: conclusiones, Quint. 2, 20, 5.—
   2    In gramm.: accentus acutus, the acute accent (opp. gravis), Prisc. p. 159, ed. Lindem.—Comp. Plin. 13, 1, 2.—Adv.: ăcūte, sharply, keenly, acutely:. cernere, Lucr. 4, 804; ib. 811: conlecta, Cic. Deiot. 33: excogitat, id. Verr. 4, 147: respondeo, id. Cael. 17: scribo, id. Verr. 3, 20; so, ăcūtum: cernis, Hor. S. 1, 3, 26: resonarent, ib. 8, 41: and, ăcūta: canis ululat, Enn. ap. Fest. p. 9 Müll. (Ann. 346 Vahl.).—Comp., Cic. Inv. 2, 16.—Sup., Cic. Off. 1, 44; id. Verr. 3, 20.

Latin > French (Gaffiot 2016)

ăcŭō,¹⁰ ŭī, ūtum, ĕre, (ac-, cf. acus, acies), tr., rendre aigu, pointu :
1 [au propre] : gladios Liv. 44, 34, 8, aiguiser (affiler) les épées ; serram Cic. Tusc. 5, 116, aiguiser une scie
2 [fig.] a) aiguiser, exercer : linguam Cic. de Or. 3, 121 ; Br. 331, aiguiser sa langue par l’exercice de la parole]; linguam causis acuis Hor. Ep. 1, 3, 23, tu affiles ta langue en vue de plaidoiries ; mentem Cic. Tusc. 1, 80 ; ingenium Cic. Br. 126, aiguiser l’intelligence, l’esprit ; b) exciter, stimuler : Cic. de Or. 1, 115 ; Amer. 110 ; Off. 3, 1 ; Liv. 28, 19, 14 ; [avec ad ] exciter à : Cic. Or. 142 ; Lig. 10 ; Liv. 26, 51, 7, etc.; [avec in acc.] animer contre : Liv. 8, 36, 10 ; c) exciter, augmenter : curam acuebat quod Liv. 8, 6, 15, ce qui avivait les préoccupations, c’est que [le fait que, cf. 10, 45, 7 ; studia Liv. 10, 13, 8, augmenter le dévouement, les sympathies ; d) [gramm.] rendre aigu, prononcer d’une façon plus aiguë ou plus accentuée : Quint. 1, 5, 22 ; Gell. 6, 7, 4 ; 13, 26, 2.