Amarity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being bitter, either in taste or in temper and feeling, as an archaic term
2. An old-fashioned name for bitterness, whether a sharp taste or a harsh, resentful mood
3. A rare, archaic noun meaning the state of being bitter in flavor or in emotional disposition

Etymology: The Latin adjective "amarus" meant "bitter," and it is the root of this noun. Its Latin derivative "amaritas" named bitterness of taste and, by extension, of feeling, and English took the idea over with the same two senses, so a bitter drink and a bitter grudge share one ancestor. That same Latin stem survives in Italian, where "amaro" means "bitter" and names a family of herbal liqueurs. The Italian diminutive "amaretto" means "a little bitter," which is why the almond biscuit and liqueur carry a name that once described their flavor. The English noun has stayed rare, and its relatives "amaritude" and "amarous" never gained much ground, so the term remains a precise, literary way of saying bitterness.