acumen

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination; acuity of mind.

   “"I am going to ask you a question that does not require much legal acumen to answer," said Lord Meersbrook to his attorney, when he called the next day in Lincoln's Inn;...”

   “Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.[…]But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme.”

   “No, no, my dear Watson! With all respect for your natural acumen, I do not think that you are quite a match for the worthy doctor.”

   “Why do you think he removes their skins, Agent Starling? Enthrall me with your acumen.”

   “[A]s [US president Donald Trump] turns up the pressure – calling the Fed chair [Jerome Powell] names and questioning his acumen – he’s ignited a firestorm in legal and financial circles.”

2. (uncountable, usually)A sharp, tapering point extending from a plant.

   “The black star of the corolla, characteristic of the original form, the manyfloweredness of the inflorescence (often connected with [3]—4 whirls), upper leaves in the inflorescence, adpression of the acumina of the calyx, its size, the closely situated anthers, long pistils, the length of the pedicel above and below the articulation and the thickness of the pedicel dominate.”

   “11. S. boyacense. Resembles S. Rybinii from which it is distinguished by the greater dissection of the leaves, the longer calyx acumens, smaller anthers and coloured corolla.”

   “Finally, the acumina of all the narrowly lanceolate leaves of both species tend to be straight rather than curved.”

   “Herbs with long creeping stolons; leaves with coarse white hairs, or glabrous. The arched corolla lobes and large acumens give the corolla a circular appearance with acumens standing out sharply from it. Corolla occasionally, however, substellate.”

   “[…] the stem leaves lack recurved serrations on the margins, the acumina of the branch leaves are usually distinctly dentate.”

3. (uncountable, usually)A bony, often sharp, protuberance, especially that of the ischium.

   “The rostrum is the anterior extension of the carapace between the eyes. It ends in a more or less acute tip, or acumen, and may have a lateral spine on each side or bear a longitudinal keel (carina) on the dorsal surface.”

   “DIAGNOSIS—Rostrum usually with marginal spines, tubercles, or angles at base of acumen, and rarely with low medina carina.”

   “Variations.—Most specimens examined have concave rostral margins that taper to the acumen and the rostral length is greater than the rostral width.”