sour
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsaʊə/
note: triphthong smoothing
ipa: [ˈsɑːə]
note: triphthong smoothing
ipa: [ˈsɑː]
ipa: /ˈsaʊɚ/
ipa: /ˈsæɔə/
rhymes: -aʊə(ɹ)
homophone: Saar
homophone: tsar
homophone: sigher
homophone: sire
Forms: form: sourer
form: sourest
form: sower
form: sowre
Etymology: From Middle English sour, from Old English sūr (“sour”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūr, from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”), from Proto-Indo-European *súHros (“sour”).
Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sauer (“sour”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sur, French sur (“sour”), Faroese súrur (“sour”), Icelandic súr (“sour, bitter”),
Polish ser (“cheese”),
Czech sýr (“cheese”),
Slovak syr (“cheese”),
Russian сырой (syroj, “raw”),
Ukrainian сири́й (syrýj, “raw”),
Old Church Slavonic сꙑръ (syrŭ, “moist, cheese”).
Senses: examples: text: Lemons have a sour taste.
text: All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.
ref: 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
text: A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami all set off their own neural cascades.
ref: 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, “The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel”, in Wired:
glosses: Tasting of acidity.
examples: text: Don't drink that milk; it's turned sour.
glosses: Made rancid by fermentation, etc.
examples: text: His sour breath makes it unpleasing to talk to him.
glosses: Tasting or smelling rancid.
examples: text: He gave me a sour look.
text: He was a scholar […] / Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, / But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
glosses: Hostile or unfriendly.
raw_tags: of a person's character
examples: text: sour land
text: a sour marsh
glosses: Excessively acidic and thus infertile. (of soil)
examples: text: sour gas smells like rotten eggs
glosses: Containing excess sulfur. (of petroleum)
examples: text: Let me embrace thee, sour adversity
ref: 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
text: The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.
ref: 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: Unfortunate or unfavorable.
examples: text: Unlike what the name implies, there is nothing inherently wrong with a sour note: It is perfectly well-tuned note that would sound normal in another context (and which presumably would not sound sour to someone unfamiliar with tonal music).
ref: 2010, Aniruddh D. Patel, Music, Language, and the Brain, page 201:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: Off-pitch, out of tune.
Synonyms: word: acetose
word: acetous
word: acid
word: acidulent
word: sour
word: tart
Hypernyms: word: gustable
Hyponyms: word: lemon
word: lemonish
word: lemonlike
word: lemony
word: limelike
word: limey
word: picklesome
word: vinegarish
word: vinegarlike
word: vinegary
word: acescent
word: acidulous
word: sourish
Derived terms: fine and dandy like sour candy
for sour apples
go sour
hot and sour soup
leave a sour taste in one's mouth
New York sour
sour beer
sour cherry
sour corn
sour cream
sour crude
sour diesel
sourfaux
sour fig
sour gas
sour gourd
sour grapes
sour grass
sour gum
sour honey
sour krout
sourly
sour mash
sour milk
sourness
sour note
sour on
sour puss
sour shchi
sour stomach
sour-sweet
sour tooth
sour worm
sweet-and-sour
sweet-and-sour sauce
the grapes are sour anyway
Related terms: word: sourness