Definitions

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

  • adjective Of, relating to, or producing acetic acid or vinegar.
  • adjective Having an acetic taste; sour-tasting.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having a sour taste; vinegary. Boyle. Also written acetose.
  • Of or pertaining to vinegar; causing or connected with acetification.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having a sour taste; sour; acid.
  • adjective Causing, or connected with, acetification.
  • adjective a name formerly given to vinegar, which is a dilute solution of acetic acid.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Having a sour taste; sour; acid.
  • adjective Causing, or connected with, acetification; as, acetous fermentation.

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

  • adjective tasting or smelling like vinegar

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, sour, from Medieval Latin acētōsus, vinegary, from Latin acētum, vinegar; see acetum.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin acetum ("vinegar"), from acere ("to be sour").

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Examples

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  • From Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution

    March 6, 2011