sharp

Pronunciation: /ʃɑɹp/

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a musical notation indicating one half step higher than the note named
  2. noun a long thin sewing needle with a sharp point
  3. adjective (of something seen or heard) clearly defined

Etymology

From Middle English scharp, from Old English sċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *skarp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-, from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scherp, scharp, schaarp, Dutch scherp, German scharf, Danish skarp. Compare Irish cearb (“keen; cutting”), Latin acerbus (“tart, bitter”), Tocharian B kärpye (“rough”), Latvian skârbs (“sharp, rough”), Russian щерба (ščerba, “notch”), Polish szczerba (“gap, dent, jag, chip, nick, notch”), Albanian harb (“rudeness”). More at shear.

In classic literature

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
musical notation
Narrower (hyponyms)
double sharp

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