Etymologically
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douceur

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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)