sournessn.
/ˈsaʊənɪs/ 1. The quality of being physically sour; acidity, tartness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sourness or acidity > [noun]
sharpnessc1000
sournessc1050
sourheada1400
eagerness?a1425
verdure1508
tartness1530
acetosity1599
acidity1615
sourfulness1617
tetricity1623
tetritude1656
tartarousness1657
acidness1660
sourishness1670
fieriness1675
acescency1756
c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 347 Acredinis, surnesse.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 195 An oynement maad of armoniac & with þe sournes of citri.
14.. Contin. Brut ccxxiv. 292 Þe fruyte of þe erþe..were turned into more saltnes & sournes of sauour.
?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew vi. f. lxxvijv As thou couldest not se leuen though thou brakest vp a loffe, excepte thou smelledest and tastedest the sourenesse.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 58v Unrype mulberries besyde theyr tartnes they haue also a sournes.
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke i. iv. 19 Sulphur..doth contemper the sharpness or sowerness of mercurie.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 128 He knew to..tame to Plums, the sourness of the Sloes. View more context for this quotation
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Malt-dust Where the Grounds..have contracted a Sourness and Austerity.
1765 Universal Mag. 37 371/2 Any little sournesses [of stomach] they may have.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 441 It has a slightly saltish taste, but no sourness.
1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 6 They excite in the palate the sensation of sourness.
1864 Hardwich's Phot. Chem. (ed. 7) 12 The characteristics of acids may be stated to be, intense sourness and corrosiveness.
2. The quality of being sour in temper, disposition, or looks.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > sourness or bitterness of temper > [noun]
gallc1175
sourness1482
fellc1494
acerbitya1538
tartness1548
acrimony1597
verjuice1598
vinegara1616
acidness1660
asperity1664
thorniness1674
acidity1687
acerbitude1727
acridity1753
vitriol1769
souredness1858
1482 Monk of Evesham xxx. 72 In thys that sche..in her herte hylde rancour and sowernes agenste hem, sche gretely offendyd.
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Tetricitas, sowernesse..of countinaunce.
1608 J. Dod & R. Cleaver Plaine Expos. Proverbs xi–x 120 Let not our sourenesse and discontentment..be any meanes of their discouragement.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 69 The Millenaries..expect..that all sowernesse amongst Christians shall be absorpt of Charity.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 2. ⁋1 This Humour creates him no Enemies, for he does nothing with Sourness or Obstinacy.
1779 W. Cowper Let. 31 Oct. (1979) I. 307 Some Sourness in his Temper.
1821 C. Lamb in London Mag. Sept. 283/1 His look was uninviting, resembling (but without his sourness) that of our great philanthropist.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 44 Drink..will mellow the sourness of age.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.c1050