[f. as prec. + -NESS. Before this was in use, the L. astūtia was occas. employed.] The quality of being astute; keenness of penetration or discernment; mental subtlety, shrewdness.
[1802. Bentham, Wks., X. 396. Could this mass of law by any astutia be construed to come under title Poor.]
1843. Vaughan, Age Gt. Cities, 152. The astuteness acquired in the exercise of this greatest of free schools.
1865. Maffei, Brigand Life in It., II. 89. The astuteness of the Pontifical police.
