acutulus

Latin

Etymology

acūtus +‎ -ulus

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aˈkuː.tu.lus/, [äˈkuːt̪ʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /aˈku.tu.lus/, [äˈkuːt̪ulus]

Adjective

acūtulus (feminine acūtula, neuter acūtulum, adverb acūtule); first/second-declension adjective

diminutive of acūtus (“sharp, acute, subtle”)
- 45 BCE, Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.18.7:
  Zenonisque brevīs et acutulas conclusiones in eam partem sermonis quam modo dixi differemus
  1896 translation by Francis Brooks
  and the syllogisms of Zeno, with their conciseness and petty ingenuity, will be deferred to that part of the discourse which I have just mentioned
- c. 177 CE, Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 17.5.3.3:
  rhetoricus quidam sophista utriusque linguae callens, haut sane ignobilis ex istis acutulis et minutis doctoribus, qui τεχνικοί appellantur

Usage notes

The difference in meaning between the diminutive and the base adjective is disputed: Lewis and Short defines it as "somewhat pointed, acute, or subtile", i.e. as "acūtus to a small extent" or "possessing a small amount of the quality described by the word acūtus", but Petersen argues that this reading of the word as a "diminutive of quality" is incorrect, and that the diminutive instead either expresses the smallness of the modified noun,^[1] or has a "deteriorative" sense (serving to express a negative shade of emotion such as contempt) relative to the original adjective^[2]

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	acūtulus	acūtula	acūtulum	acūtulī	acūtulae	acūtula
genitive	acūtulī	acūtulae	acūtulī	acūtulōrum	acūtulārum	acūtulōrum
dative	acūtulō	acūtulae	acūtulō	acūtulīs
accusative	acūtulum	acūtulam	acūtulum	acūtulōs	acūtulās	acūtula
ablative	acūtulō	acūtulā	acūtulō	acūtulīs
vocative	acūtule	acūtula	acūtulum	acūtulī	acūtulae	acūtula

References

^ Petersen, Walter. 1916. Latin Diminution of Adjectives. Classical Philology, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Oct., 1916), pp. 426-451. (page 443)
^ Petersen, Walter. 1917. Latin Diminution of Adjectives. II. Classical Philology, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jan., 1917), pp. 49-67. (page 50)