[ME. bitt(e)re(n:—OE. biterian, f. biter, BITTER a.; = OHG. bittaren, MHG. bittern to be bitter.]
† 1. intr. To be or become bitter. (Only in OE.)
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past., 425. Ðætte us biteriʓe sio hreowsung.
2. trans. To make bitter; fig. to embitter (obs.).
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 23. A lutel ater bitteret[h] muchele swete.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 308. Uour þinges, ȝif me þencheð … muwen makien him to seoruwen, & bittren his heorte.
a. 1619. Fotherby, Atheom., I. xii. § S (1622), 132. Men in sad taking, bitter’d with affliction.
1622. H. Sydenham, Serm. Sol. Occ. (1637), 309. Shall I bitter vertue, & sweeten vice?
1713. Lond. & Country Brewer, I. (1742), 7. Such hasty Dryings, or Scorchings, are also apt to bitter the Malt.
1815. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 5), IV. 131. This plant [Bog-bean] is used in the north of Europe to bitter the ale.
