When did "cute" go from meaning "sharp" to meaning "pretty"? (Orginally came from "acute")

Question

If you can provide citations, that would be great.

Answer 1

cute (kyūt) pronunciation
adj., cut·er, cut·est.

1. Delightfully pretty or dainty.
2. Obviously contrived to charm; precious: “[He] mugs so ferociously he kills the humor—it's an insufferably cute performance” (David Ansen).
3. Shrewd; clever.

[Short for ACUTE.]
cutely cute'ly adv.
cuteness cute'ness n.

WORD HISTORY Cute is a good example of how a shortened form of a word can take on a life of its own, developing a sense that dissociates it from the longer word from which it was derived. Cute was originally a shortened form of acute in the sense “keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd.” In this sense cute is first recorded in a dictionary published in 1731. Probably cute came to be used as a term of approbation for things demonstrating acuteness, and so it went on to develop its own sense of “pretty, fetching,” first recorded with reference to “gals” in 1838.

Answer 2

Will actually in old English, cute, meant bow legged believe it or not.

It started evolving in the eighteen hundreds into what it means now.

And the term Cupid's arrow meant something else entirely than it does today. Like in love shaft between bowed legs. And you can figure out the rest concerning what the shift was.

That is why it was such a big deal about Cupid's arrow in Romero and Juliette.
Had to take a course in Elizabethan English because it was only English being taught to get enough English credits. It was taught by an Shakespearean Actor. Gives you a whole new outlook on watching Shakespear's plays. Instead of being a pain they are fun to watch.

Answer 3

does it relate to how sharp could be used to describe a person's neat and handsome apearance?

Answer 4

a good etymology dictionary can tell you for sure. your library has them in the reference section.