bitter (German)
concept / concept-word-bitter-de
bitter（ドイツ語）
Bitter (German) is the German adjective bitter. Besides taste, it has figurative uses for distress, sharpness, and resentment, as well as a use expressing intensification.
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Reading the bitterness
Bitter is a German adjective. DWDS (Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, eWDG 1967) defines its taste sense as 『Geschmacksbezeichnung: gleich dem Geschmack der Galle』 (in translation: "A taste designation: like the taste of bile"). It gives examples of bitterness like bile or wormwood and bitter almonds.
The same dictionary gives figurative senses: in elevated style, 「つらい、痛ましい」 (in translation: "painful, distressing"), 「鋭い、刺すような」 (in translation: "sharp, biting"), and 「恨みを抱いた」 (in translation: "resentful"). It illustrates them with 『bitterer Hohn, Humor, Spott, Groll』 (in translation: "bitter mockery, humor, sarcasm, and resentment").
For etymology, DWDS cites Wolfgang Pfeifer’s etymological dictionary, describing bitter as 『herb und unangenehm im Geschmack』 (in translation: "astringent and unpleasant in taste") and figuratively as 「つらい、鋭い、刺すような」 (in translation: "painful, sharp, biting"). It traces the word back to 8th-century Old High German bittar and associates it with beißen (in translation: "to bite") through the Proto-Germanic suffix -ra-. Its original sense is given as 『beißend, schneidend, scharf』 (in translation: "biting, cutting, sharp").
Sources for this overview
bitter — Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (DWDS)
Checked for this overview: Presented the dictionary’s taste definition comparing it with bile. / Presented figurative senses and examples of distress and resentment. / Presented the etymological account linking it to beißen (“to bite”).
Other names: bitter (de)
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Culture (3)
Scope: DWDS (eWDG 1967), headword bitter, sense 1.
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concept-word-bitter-de —is_defined_in_dictionary_as→ "『Geschmacksbezeichnung: gleich dem Geschmack der Galle』 (in translation: "A taste designation: like the taste of bile"). Examples: 『bitter wie Galle, Wermut（胆汁やニガヨモギのように苦い）』 (in translation: "bitter like bile or wormwood") and 『bittere Mandeln（苦扁桃）』 (in translation: "bitter almonds")."Scope: DWDS (eWDG 1967), headword bitter, sense 2
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concept-word-bitter-de —is_presented_as→ "『gehoben, übertragen: schmerzlich』『scharf, beißend』『verbittert』. Examples: 『bittere Tränen vergießen』『bitterer Hohn, Humor, Spott, Groll』 (in translation: "elevated, figurative: painful"; "sharp, biting"; "embittered." Examples: "to shed bitter tears"; "bitter mockery, bitter humor, bitter derision, bitter resentment")"Scope: DWDS, headword bitter, etymology (Wolfgang Pfeifer, Etymologisches Wörterbuch).
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concept-word-bitter-de —has_name_etymology→ "『bitter Adj. "herb und unangenehm im Geschmack", übertragen "schmerzlich, scharf, beißend"...ahd. bittar (8. Jh.)...gehört mit dem Suffix germ. -ra- zu beißen (s. d.)...Ursprünglich "beißend, schneidend, scharf"』 (bitter means 「渋く不快な味の」 (in translation: "astringent and unpleasant in taste") and figuratively 「つらい、鋭い、刺すような」 (in translation: "painful, sharp, biting"); it goes back to eighth-century Old High German bittar, belongs with beißen (in translation: "to bite") through the Proto-Germanic suffix -ra-, and originally meant 「噛みつくような、切るような、鋭い」 (in translation: "biting, cutting, sharp"))."