1731, "clever, sharp, smart"
short for acute
(informal sense of "pretty" is by 1834)
The primary socio-cultural (pop) usage of the word cute is a thorough ☣ perversion of the original sense ("clever, sharp, smart"), but the original meaning does survive.
~☉~ | lucid definition; added layer of lucidity, or aethereal context |
⚜ | classic definition |
☣ | artificium definition; usually words which have undergone a warped evolution, or a complete perversion of the original sense |