Etymologically
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dulcedo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dʊɫˈkeː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [dul̠ʲˈt͡ʃɛː.do][1]

Forms

dulcēdō f (genitive dulcēdinis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dulcis (“sweet”) + -ēdō.[1][2][3] The adjective dulcis goes back to Proto-Italic *dulkwis (“sweet”).[4] It is usually compared with Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”), but de Vaan finds the explanation of the sounds of both words ad hoc.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Laevius,[5] who has a concrete plural, apparently of the love charm taken from foals.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, sweetness of taste, is rare: Vitruvius uses it of sweet river water and Pliny the Elder of a bitter root with some sweetness.[2][6] Far more often it is the pleasantness or charm of something, as Cicero's pleasure that moves the senses with the greatest sweetness, and the pleasure taken in an action, as in Livy's “the plebeians took a liking to electing their own men”.[2][6] Grattius uses it apparently of an itch.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “sweetness, goodness”; in medieval texts it also means kindness, affection or love.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 2nd–1st century BC – Laevius in a concrete sense.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the charm of pleasure.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the pleasure of an action.[2][5]
  • Middle Ages – Kindness, affection.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sweetness of taste.[2][6][1]
  2. Pleasantness, charm, delight; the pleasure of doing something.[2][6][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Kindness, affection, love.[8]
  • dulcēscō
  • dulcia
  • dulciārius
  • dulciculus
  • dulcifer
  • dulcificō
  • dulcis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill