indolcire

Forms

indolcire (first-person singular present indolcìsco, first-person singular past historic indolcìi, past participle indolcìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian in- + dolce + -ire: a verb made from the adjective with the prefix of entering a state.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} DELI notes rarer formations of the same kind, indolciare and the Latinism indolcare.^[2] DEI also records indolcinire from the 14th century.^[7] Wiktionary instead traces it to a Vulgar Latin *indulcīre.^[1] Tommaseo–Bellini cites a Latin indulcere from the Philoxenus glossary.^[8]

The adjective comes from Latin dulcis (“sweet”), Proto-Italic *dulkwi- in de Vaan's reconstruction.^[9] He compares Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”) but, since the sound correspondences are irregular, thinks both are more likely borrowed from an unknown source.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Florentine translation of Albertano of 1275, in the sense “make mild, appease”.^[10] DELI's first example, by Giamboni (before 1292), is also figurative: La dolce parola... indolcisce li animi (“the sweet word softens hearts”).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “make sweet” appears in Savonarola's De regimine (before 1460).^[2] Tommaseo–Bellini quotes Fra Giordano on the bitter waters that were sweetened by putting wood into them.^[8] Agricultural writers used it for olives and lupins that lose their bitterness in water or brine, a sense the food industry keeps.^[8][11][12] Old usage also had “make a metal malleable”, a sense found in Portuguese aducir too.^[12][6][13] As an intransitive it is used of fruit that sweetens as it ripens and, less often, of weather that turns milder.^[12] In the figurative sense addolcire is now the usual word.^[12]

Timeline

• 1275 – The Florentine translation of Albertano uses it for “appease”.^[10]
• Before 1292 – Giamboni uses it of softening hearts.^[2]
• 14th century – The variants indolciare and indolcinire are recorded.^[7]
• Before 1460 – Savonarola uses it for “make sweet”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To sweeten: to make sweet, as with sugar; to addolcire.^{[3][12][4][1]}
2. (food technology) To remove the bitterness from olives or lupins with lye, brine or water so that they can be eaten.^{[3][6][12][14]}
3. (literary, figurative) To soothe, soften, mitigate.^[6][15][1]
4. (archaic) To make a metal malleable.^[14][6][12]
5. (intransitive, also indolcirsi) To become sweet, as ripening fruit; of the weather, to become milder: I fichi indolciscono al sole d'agosto.^[12][4][6]

Word family

• indolcimento
• indolcitore
• rindolcire

Related words

• dolce
• addolcire
• Latin dulcis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2006
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli