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acumen - 4 dictionary results

a⋅cu⋅men

  [uh-kyoo-muhn, ak-yuh-]
Use acumen in a Sentence
–noun
keen insight; shrewdness: remarkable acumen in business matters.
Origin:
1525–35; < L acūmen sharpness, equiv. to acū- (s. of acuere to sharpen; see acute ) + -men n. suffix

Related forms:
a⋅cu⋅mi⋅nous  [uh-kyoo-muh-nuhs] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ac·u·men   (āk'yə-mən, ə-kyōō'-)   
n.  Quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight.

[Latin acūmen, from acuere, to sharpen, from acus, needle; see ak- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: The pronunciation (ə-kyōō'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, (āk'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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Acumen

A*cu"men\, n. [L. acumen, fr. acuere to sharpen. Cf. Acute.] Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination. --Selden.

Syn: Sharpness; sagacity; keenness; shrewdness; acuteness.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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acumen 
1531, from L. acumen "a point, sting," hence "sharpness, shrewdness," from acuere "to sharpen" (see acuity).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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