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Origin and history of astute

astute(adj.)

"keen in discernment and careful of one's self-interest," 1610s, from Latin astutus "crafty, wary, shrewd; sagacious, expert," from astus "cunning, cleverness, adroitness," which is of uncertain origin. The Romans considered it to be from Greek asty "town," borrowed into Latin and implying city sophistication (see asteism). Related: Astutely; astuteness.

An alternative form is astucious (1823), from French astucieux, from Latin astutia "astuteness." Also formerly astucity.

also from 1610s

Entries linking to astute

asteism(n.)

"genteel irony, polite mockery," 1580s, from Greek asteismos "wit, witticism," from asteios "refined, elegant, witty, clever," literally "of a city or town" (as opposed to "country"), from asty "town, city," especially (without the article) "Athens," which is possibly from a suffixed form of PIE root *wes- (3) "to live, dwell, stay" (see Vesta). For sense, compare urbane.

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    Trends of astute

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    sharp
    Old English scearp "having a cutting edge; pointed; intellectually acute, active, shrewd; keen (of senses); severe; biting, bitter (of tastes)," from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, literally "cutting" (source also of Old Saxon scarp, Old Norse skarpr, Old Frisian skerp, Dutch scherp, G
    shrewd
    c. 1300, shreued, "wicked, depraved, malicious, evil," from shrewe "wicked man" (see shrew) + -ed. Compare crabbed from crab (n.), dogged from dog (n.), wicked from witch (n.), all from early Middle English. The weaker or neutral sense of "cunning, sly, artful, clever or keen-wit
    pretty
    surname), from Old English prættig (West Saxon), pretti (Kentish), *prettig (Mercian) "cunning, skillful, artful, wily, astute...
    penny
    English coin, Middle English peni, from Old English pening, penig, Northumbrian penning "penny," from Proto-Germanic *panninga- (source also of Old Norse penningr, Swedish pänning, Danish penge, Old Frisian panning, Old Saxon pending, Middle Dutch pennic, Dutch penning, Old High
    brace
    early 14c., "piece of armor for the arms," also "thong, strap for fastening," from Old French brace "arms," also "length measured by two arms" (12c., Modern French bras "arm, power;" brasse "fathom, armful, breaststroke"), from Latin bracchia, plural of bracchium "an arm, a forea
    text
    late 14c., "wording of anything written," from Old French texte, Old North French tixte "text, book; Gospels" (12c.), from Medieval Latin textus "the Scriptures, text, treatise," in Late Latin "written account, content, characters used in a document," from Latin textus "style or
    essay
    1590s, "trial, attempt, endeavor," also "short, discursive literary composition" (first attested in writings of Francis Bacon, probably in imitation of Montaigne), from French essai "trial, attempt, essay" (in Old French from 12c.), from Late Latin exagium "a weighing, a weight,"
    premise
    late 14c., in logic, "a previous proposition from which another follows, a judgment causing another judgment," from Old French premisse (14c.), from Medieval Latin praemissa (propositio or sententia) "(the proposition) set before," noun use of fem. past participle of Latin praemi
    screen
    mid-14c., screne, "upright piece of furniture providing protection from heat of a fire, drafts, etc.," probably from a shortened (Anglo-French? compare Anglo-Latin screna) variant of Old North French escren, Old French escran "fire-screen, tester of a bed" (early 14c.). This is o
    respite
    mid-13c., "extension of time for an action, deliberation, etc., grace period; postponement of an action, judgment, etc.," from Old French respit "delay, respect" (Modern French répit), from Latin respectus "consideration, recourse, regard," literally "act of looking back (or ofte

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