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acumen

 
(ăk'yə-mən, ə-kyū'-) pronunciation
n.
Quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight.

[Latin acūmen, from acuere, to sharpen, from acus, needle.]

USAGE NOTE   The pronunciation (ə-kyū'mən), with stress on the second syllable, is an older, traditional pronunciation reflecting the word's Latin origin. In recent years it has been supplanted as the most common pronunciation of the word by an Anglicized variant with stress on the first syllable, (ăk'yə-mən). In a recent survey, 68 percent of the Usage Panel chose this as their pronunciation, while 29 percent preferred the pronunciation with stress on the second syllable. The remaining 3 percent of the Panelists said they use both pronunciations.


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The 19th century pronunciation as recorded in the Old English (up to 1150)D was with the stress on the second syllable. This is still the dominant pronunciation in American English, but in British English stress on the first syllable is now standard.

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n

Definition: ability to understand and reason
Antonyms: denseness, ignorance, inability, ineptness, obtuseness, stupidity

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acumen

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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Quick thinking or insight.

pronunciation Daniel approached the issues with great acumen.

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  See crossword solutions for the clue Acumen.
Translations:

Acumen

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - skarpsindighed, skarpsyn, kløgt, dygtighed

Nederlands (Dutch)
scherpzinnigheid

Français (French)
n. - sagacité, perspicacité, flair

Deutsch (German)
n. - Scharfsinn, Scharfsinnigkeit

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - οξυδέρκεια, οξύνοια

Italiano (Italian)
acume, perspicacia

Português (Portuguese)
n. - acume (m), perspicácia (f)

Русский (Russian)
проницательность

Español (Spanish)
n. - agudeza, perspicacia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - skarpsinne

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
敏锐, 聪明

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 敏銳, 聰明

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 날카로움, 안식, 총명

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 鋭さ, 眼識, 明敏

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فطنه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פיקחות, חריפות השכל‬


 
 
Related topics:
acuminous
acuminate
aculeate

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Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Fowler's Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. © 1999, 2004 All rights reserved.  Read more
Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms by Answers.com. © 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
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 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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