2. A reference to vinegar or other acid characteristics: "The acetic flavor of vinegar is used in salad dressings to give them a little punch."
Sometimes a very ascetic individual can develop an acetic personality which spoils the natural aesthetic potential of the individual.
2. Pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline.
3. A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.
4. Etymology: used since about 1646, from Greek asketikos, "rigorously self-disciplined", from asketes, "monk, hermit"; from askein, "to exercise, to train"; originally, "to train for athletic competition, to practice gymnastics, to exercise".
The noun meaning "one of the early Christians who retired to the desert to live solitary lives of meditation and prayer" is from 1673.
Ascetic actually goes back to Greek asketes, "an athlete in training". The Greek word for athletic training is askesis, and from it we get ascesis, which means "rigorous self-discipline" or "training".
Very much the same thing is denoted by asceticism, which was first used in English by Sir Thomas Browne in 1646.
Ascetic goes back to Greek asketes, an athlete in training. The Greek word for athletic training is askesis, and from it we get ascesis, which means rigorous self-discipline or training. Very much the same thing is denoted by asceticism, which was first used in English by Sir Thomas Browne in 1646.