sOF actuel,

ACROBAT whence E acerb), a modification of acer, itself from an IE r ·ac-(aIe-), a point, pointed, to be pointed-cf Gr alee, a point, and aleiJn, a javelin. But, f.a.e., see ACUTE. (Cf ACID.)

acrobat: aerophobia: acropolis; acrostic. For acro-, from Or aleros, at the farthest point

(usu upwards), see Elements. The cpds have originated thus:

acrobat, via F act-obate (n), either from the Gr adj akrobatos, walking a-tiptoe, hence walking aloft, from akrobatein, to walk a-tiptoe, or, more prob, from Gr alerobates, an acrobat, from alerobatein, the element bat-deriving from bainein (s bain-), to walk; the adj acrobatic comes from Gr alerobatikos;

acrophobia, a dread of high places: a SciL formation: cf PHOBIA;

acropolis, the citadel-lit 'highest (part) of a city', esp in Greece: cf POLICE, para 4; adj, acropoIitan;

acroscopic. Cf the element -scope: acrostic: L acrostichis, Gr alerostikhis, lit 'ex-

treme line', i.e. at the beginning or the end of a verse-line (Gr stikhos, order, verse: cf the element -stich).