different between acuate vs vacuate

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin acu?tus, past participle of acu?re, variant of Classical Latin acuere, present active infinitive of acu? (“I sharpen”), from acus (“needle”).

Pronunciation

• (adjective) IPA^(key): /?æk.ju.?t/
• (verb) IPA^(key): /?æk.ju.e?t/

Adjective

acuate (comparative more acuate, superlative most acuate)

1. Sharpened; sharp-pointed.

Verb

acuate (third-person singular simple present acuates, present participle acuating, simple past and past participle acuated)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To sharpen; to make pungent; to quicken.
   • 1764, Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, The Life of Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury

     wicked dispositions shou'd have knowledge to acuate their ill intentions

English

Verb

vacuate (third-person singular simple present vacuates, present participle vacuating, simple past and past participle vacuated)

1. To empty; to clear out.
   • 1861, W. R. Wilde, On Aural Diagnosis and Diseases of the Mastoid Process, in The Medical Times and Gazette, volume 1, page 488

     Mr. Toynbee recommends, in cases of ruptured membrane tympani, "directing the stream of water [in syringing] through the orifice of the membrane into the tympanum in oder to vacuate the latter cavity of its contents."

Related terms

• evacuate
• vacuation
• vacuist, vacuity
• vacuous
• vacuum

Translations

See also

• vacate
• evacuate