doux
Pronunciation
- IPA: /du/[1]
Forms
doux (feminine douce, masculine plural doux, feminine plural douces)[1] Old French dulz, douz (12th century); doux from the 16th century.[2][3] The feminine douce (dulce in the Chanson de Roland) was created in French, Latin dulcis had one form for both genders.[4][2]
Etymology
It is inherited from Old French dulz, inherited from Latin dulcis (“sweet; pleasant, charming; dear”).[5][3][4][6][7] Rey and the Petit Robert connect the Latin word with Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”), from an earlier “*dlukus”.[3][8] Bloch and Wartburg note that the other Latin adjectives for softness fared differently: “lēnis” survives only in Romanian lin, and for “suāvis” compare suave.[4]
Cognate with Romanian dulce, Italian dolce, Catalan dolç, Spanish dulce and Portuguese doce.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has France dulce “sweet France”, dulz païs and ewes dulces, fresh water.[5][9]
Semantic evolution
From the first texts the adjective has its full range of uses: of taste, touch (liz dulz, about 1150), the weather (vanz dolz, Chrétien de Troyes, about 1176) and people (douce fille, about 1170), and in courtly lyric ma douce amie.[5][3][9] Later additions are the technical “ductile” of metals (1690) and prix doux “moderate prices” (1808).[3][10]
The adverb (1531) gave filer doux “to toe the line” (1583) and classical tout doux! “gently!”.[3][5] Familiar en douce “on the quiet” dates from 1884.[5][3] As a noun le doux is a neuter (1669), and in 19th-century slang a liqueur, opposed to le dur (1805).[3][10]
Timeline
- c. 1100 – France dulce, Chanson de Roland.[5]
- c. 1150 – Of touch, Voyage de Charlemagne.[5]
- c. 1176 – Vanz dolz, Chrétien de Troyes.[5]
- 1531 – The adverb.[5][3]
- 1583 – Filer doux.[3]
- 1690 – Of metals, “ductile”.[3]
- 1884 – En douce.[5]
Meanings
Adjective
- sweet; mild in taste: amandes douces, vin doux; not salty: eau douce, beurre doux.[8][1]
- soft, smooth to the touch: une peau douce.[8][1]
- mild, gentle: un climat doux, une pente douce.[1][8]
- (of a person) Gentle, kind: doux comme un agneau.[1][9]
- Pleasant, sweet: de doux souvenirs, faire les yeux doux.[1][8]
- Drogue douce: a soft drug.[1]
Adverb
Word family
- doucement
- douceur
- doucereux
- douceâtre
- doucet
- doucette
- adoucir
- radoucir
- redoux
- aigre-doux
Related words
- douçâtre
- suave
- édulcorer
- Latin dulcis
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ 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
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 174a
- ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF