Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Vinegar.
  • noun An acetic acid solution of a drug.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Vinegar (which see).
  • noun A pharmaceutical preparation usually made by percolating a drug with dilute acetic acid.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a dilute solution of acetic acid that is used as a solvent (e.g. for a drug)
  • noun sour-tasting liquid produced usually by oxidation of the alcohol in wine or cider and used as a condiment or food preservative

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin acētum; see ak- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • If you search out where it came from Pliny's Natural History, Book LXXII, a copy here, the whole sentance reads: "lanae et per se coactae vestem faciunt et, si addatur acetum, etiam ferro resistunt, immo vero etiam ignibus novissimo sui purgamento"

    Archive 2009-04-01 Penny 2009

  • When used in the Liturgy the hymn is often broken into smaller hymns such as: Lustra sex qui iam peregit, En acetum, fel, arundo, and Crux fidelis inter omnes.

    Archive 2009-04-01 bls 2009

  • If you search out where it came from Pliny's Natural History, Book LXXII, a copy here, the whole sentance reads: "lanae et per se coactae vestem faciunt et, si addatur acetum, etiam ferro resistunt, immo vero etiam ignibus novissimo sui purgamento"

    Lanarius - person who does stuff with wool Penny 2009

  • When used in the Liturgy the hymn is often broken into smaller hymns such as: Lustra sex qui iam peregit, En acetum, fel, arundo, and Crux fidelis inter omnes.

    Sing, my tongue bls 2009

  • “Optimum et laudatissimum acetum a Romanis habebatur Ægyptum” (Facciolati); and possibly it was sweetened: the Gesta (Tale xvii.) mentions “must and vinegar.”

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • When used in the Liturgy the hymn is often broken into smaller hymns such as: Lustra sex qui iam peregit, En acetum, fel, arundo, and Crux fidelis inter omnes.

    Archive 2008-03-01 bls 2008

  • When used in the Liturgy the hymn is often broken into smaller hymns such as: Lustra sex qui iam peregit, En acetum, fel, arundo, and Crux fidelis inter omnes.

    Lauds and Vespers Hymns, Lent 5 and Holy Week bls 2008

  • Quod etiam illi cum Germania commune esse crediderim, quòd videlicet nec illic panis crescat, nisi fortè in Munsteri, agro, vbi etiam acetum naturale optimè crescit.

    A briefe commentarie of Island, by Arngrimus Ionas 2003

  • Quod etiam illi cum Germania commune esse crediderim, qu騞 videlicet nec illic panis crescat, nisi fort� in Munsteri, agro, vbi etiam acetum naturale optim� crescit.

    The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation 2003

  • Rum, miscetur aqua -- dulci miscetur acetum, fiet et ex tali foedere -- nobile Punch. and our worthy grand-fathers used to take a dose of it every night in their lives, before going to bed, till doctor Cheyne alarmed them by the information, that they were pouring liquid fire down their throats.

    The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 353, January 24, 1829 Various

Comments

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  • "The Vindolanda fragments mention a wide variety of foods.... Many were the fancy goods finding their way along a network of new roads linking remote areas for the first time: luxury vintage Massic wine; cooking vinegar called acetum, which was drunk heavily diluted by soldiers on the march; and liquamen, a universal fishy condiment."

    --Kate Colquhoun, Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking (NY: Bloomsbury, 2007), 21

    January 6, 2017