Collection (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the heritage of a society or an individual is, the origin and evolution of the term. Also, what is acerb.

What is a collection?

According to the first definition of the Royal Spanish Academy, the term heritage refers to a “Set of values or cultural assets accumulated by tradition or inheritance.” That is to say, It is a set of objects, knowledge and practices endowed with historical and cultural value which represent a specific heritage or tradition of a people, a society or an individual.

However, with that same word we generally name sets of things, whether goods belonging to several people (community stock), or even the set of genetic information of a population during a given time (gene stock). That is, the word heritage refers to a collective property of some kind, the value of which is thought for posterity or preservation over time.

This last meaning is the one it had in Latin, its language of origin, when the word acervus It designated any “accumulation of things.” The entry of this word into Spanish is considered late in the history of the language: its first appearances date back to the 17th century, always with the sense of treasure or heritage acquired by inheritance or tradition.

In fact, In legal language, the asset is the totality of the common and undivided assets of a society commercial community or a group of co-heirs or creditors.

acquis and acerbo

Unlike acquis, a word whose meaning we have just explained, the word acerbo has a radically different meaning, despite the fact that they differ in just one letter. In this case, bitter is an adjective that means “rough to the taste,” “cruel,” or “rigorous.”. It is used to say that something or someone is aggressive, harsh or unnecessarily cruel. For example, in: “harsh criticism”, “a harsh tutor” or “a harsh coaching”.