Aiguë

Aiguë is the feminine form of the French adjective aigu, meaning sharp, pointed, or acute. It is used to describe qualities that are keen, piercing, or intense, and it agrees with the noun in gender and number. For example, une douleur aiguë (acute pain), une voix aiguë (high‑pitched voice), une pointe aiguë (a sharp point). By contrast, with masculine nouns the form remains aigu, as in un angle aigu (an acute angle) or un cri aigu (a shrill cry).

Etymology and forms: the word derives from Latin acūtus, through Old French and subsequent French development. The feminine form aiguë is used only when the noun it modifies is feminine.

Usage notes: aiguë frequently appears in everyday language and literary prose to convey sharpness or intensity in sensory experiences—pain, taste, sound, or perception. It is common in expressions describing quality or nuance, such as a taste aigu (a sharp taste) or a sense aigu (a keen sense). In fixed or architectural phrases like accent aigu, the masculine form aigu is used because it agrees with the masculine noun accent. The feminine form aiguë is not used in that construction.

Overall, aiguë functions as a standard feminine agreement of the commonly used adjective aigu, enabling precise description of sharpness, severity, or high pitch in feminine-noun contexts.