Etymologically
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douceur

Etymology and origin of the French word douceur

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1119, Philippe de Thaon
Inherited from
Latin dulcor via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (dulcis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /du.sœʁ/[1]

Forms

douceur f (plural douceurs)[1] Old French dulçur (1119), dolçor (about 1170), douçor; the spelling douceur is from the 13th century.[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also had doçour and duceur.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French dolçor, inherited from Late Latin dulcor (“sweet taste”), derived from dulcis (“sweet”), and remade after the feminine douce of doux.[6][4][1][7] Cognate with Picard doucheur, Old Occitan dolzor, Spanish dulzor and Italian dolciore.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) has itele dulçur, of the gentleness of a person.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

About 1170 Chrétien de Troyes speaks of the dolçors of kisses, a pleasure of the senses, and the Châtelain de Coucy of the douçor d'esté, the mildness of summer.[6][8][2] About 1200 the plural les douçors named sweet foods; today des douceurs, sweets, is jocular.[6][4] Richelet in 1680 records the sweetness of smells, of the voice and of the skin.[6] Corneille's Le Menteur (1642) has en douceur, gently, now also used of a car that starts smoothly.[6][4][9] In trade the word meant the moderation of prices in the early 19th century.[10] Du Bellay's douceur angevine is a famous line on the mildness of a climate.[9]

Timeline

  • 1119 – Dulçur in Philippe de Thaon.[6]
  • c. 1170 – Dolçor in Chrétien de Troyes.[6]
  • c. 1200 – Les douçors, sweet foods.[6]
  • 1642 – En douceur, in Corneille.[6]
  • 1680 – Richelet records the sweetness of smells and voices.[6]
  • 1803 – La douceur de ses prix, moderate prices.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (rare) Sweetness of taste: la douceur d'un fruit, du miel.[9]
  2. (in the plural) Sweets, treats: offrir des douceurs à un enfant.[9]
  3. The quality of what is pleasant to the senses; softness, mildness: la douceur du velours, la douceur du climat.[9][11]
  4. Smoothness of a movement or mechanism: la douceur d'un démarrage, en douceur, smoothly, without a jolt.[9][11]
  5. Gentleness, kindness of character or manner: traiter un animal avec douceur.[11][8]

Word family

  • doucereux

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Douceur.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/douceur. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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