Acer (aser)

[L., a maple-tree, prob. so called from its pointed leaves, IMG:content-0167.png:[blocks in formation] E. bear1.] Not bearing horns; hornle : as, an acer a toph or ous ruminant. [Little used.] acerb (a-serb'), a. [=F. acer be =Sp. Pg. It. acerbo, the taste; sour, with astringency or roughne ; hence, figuratively, sharp, harsh, etc. We have a foible for Ritson with his oddities of spelling, his acerb humor,. and his obstinate disbelief in Doctor Percy's folio manuscript. Lowell , Study Windows, p. 359. Charlotte Brontë , Villette, xix. The dark, acerb , and caustic little profe or. acerbate (a-ser'bāt or as'er-bāt), v. t.; pret. and pp. acerbated, ppr. acerbating. [ IMG:content-0168.png:[blocks in formation]