bitterとは 意味・読み方・使い方

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈbɪt.ə/, [ˈbɪt.ʰə], (colloquially also) [ˈbɪʔ.ə]
• (General American) IPA: /ˈbɪ.tɚ/, [ˈbɪ.ɾɚ]
• Homophone: bidder (in some dialects)
• ハイフネーション: bit‧ter
• 韻: -ɪtə(ɹ)

語源 1

From 中期英語 bitter, bittre, from 古期英語 bitter, biter (“bitter”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitr, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz (“bitter”), equivalent to bite +‎ -er (agent noun suffix) used attributively. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bitter, West Frisian bitter, Low German bitter, Dutch bitter, German bitter, Swedish bitter, Icelandic bitur (all meaning “bitter”).

形容詞

bitter (comparative more bitter or bitterer, superlative most bitter or bitterest)

1. Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance).

   The coffee tasted bitter.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth […].

   • 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, “The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel”, in Wired:

     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.

2. Harsh, piercing, acerbic or stinging.
   • 1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust, p.31 (Perennial paperback edition)

     It was at the end of February, […] when the world was cold, and a bitter wind howled down the moors […].

3. Hateful or hostile.

   They're bitter enemies.

   • 2022 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham: Gunners show identity & direction in outstanding derby win”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Tottenham have not won in the Premier League at Emirates Stadium for 12 years, with Arsenal losing just one of their last 29 home league games against their bitter rivals.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable for the debts of others; vented many bitter execrations against the brother; and concluded with wishing something could be done for the unfortunate family.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Colossians 3:19:

     Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

4. Cynical and resentful.

   I've been bitter ever since that defeat.

使用する際の注意点

• The comparative forms bitterer and bitterest are less common than their counterparts more bitter and most bitter.

同意語

• acrid, caustic
• (cynical and resentful): jaded

反意語

• (antonym(s) of “cynical and resentful”): optimistic

派生語

派生した語

• Sranan Tongo: bita

参考

• bitter end

副詞

bitter (comparative more bitter, superlative most bitter)

1. To an intense or severe degree; bitterly.
   • 2012, Mir Bahmanyar, Darby's Rangers 1942–45, page 26:

     A dynamic personality in the outfit, he met his death in the bitter-fought engagements in Venafro.

   • 2022, Ernest Haycox, The Complete Novels: Son of the West, Saddle and Ride, Action by Night, The Silver Desert, Bugles in the Afternoon:

     After that bitter-spoken warning, talk ceased outside […] .

   • 2022, Bec McMaster, Flames and Fated Mates: Six Seductive Fantasy Romance Novels:

     The dream of it ached, bitter and sharp, for that was all it was.

派生語

• bitter cold

名詞

bitter (countable and uncountable, plural bitters)

1. (usually in the plural bitters) A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.
   • 1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer:

     Thus I begin: "All is not gold that glitters,
     "Pleasure seems sweet, but proves a glass of bitters.

2. A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.
3. (nautical) A turn of a cable about the bitts.

同意語

• (beer): English pale ale, EPA

派生語

参考

動詞

bitter (third-person singular simple present bitters, present participle bittering, simple past and past participle bittered)

1. (archaic) To make bitter.
   • 1766, John Wilkinson, Tutamen Nauticum:

     bittered with the hop

参照

• “bitter”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

語源 2

From bit +‎ -er.

名詞

bitter (plural bitters)

1. (computing, informal, in combination) A hardware system whose architecture is based around units of the specified number of bits (binary digits).
   • 1983, Computerworld, volume 17, number 49, page 21:

     However, 16-bitters are far more expensive than the 8-bit variety. And, unfortunately, have only a handful of business applications software packages that really take advantage of them.

   • 1984, Electronic Business, volume 10, page 154:

     The company believes that the 32-bit market will almost equal that of 16-bitters by the end of the decade. Chip maker Zilog Inc., not a major player in the 16-bit arena, is even more bullish about 32-bitters as it readies its own version for market.

形容詞

bitter

1. alternative form of biter

語形変化