suavis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsʷaː.wɪs], [suˈaː.wɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsʷaː.vis], [suˈaː.vis]^[1]

Forms

suāvis (neuter suāve, comparative suāvior, superlative suāvissimus, adverb suāve or suāviter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *swādu- (“sweet”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂d-u- (“sweet”).^[2][1] The u-stem was remade as an i-stem, *swādwi-, as all such adjectives were, and the /d/ was then lost before /w/.^[2][1] The verb suādeō “to advise” comes from the same root, as a causative “to make agreeable”.^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit स्वादु (svādú-, “sweet”), Ancient Greek ἡδύς (hēdús, “sweet, pleasant”), Old English swōt (“sweet”) and English sweet.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius onwards.^[2][4] In Plautus a parasite boasts that he is “sweeter boiled than roasted”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant pleasant to the taste, and also free of salt or bitterness; pleasant to the nose, fragrant; and sweet-sounding, as Ennius' “sweet voice of Egeria”.^[3] It was used of things pleasant to look at.^[3]

Most often it meant pleasant to the mind or feelings: of people charming or delightful, and in everyday speech a vague word of praise, “nice”, as in Cicero's mi suavissime Volumni.^[3][5] It survives as Italian soave and Old French soef.^[1] English took suave in the 15th century, and assuage came from a Vulgar Latin verb built on it.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of taste and of a sweet song.^[3][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a sweet voice and a charming man.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as a term of affection.^[5][4]
• c. 1300 – English assuage comes through Old French.^[6]
• early 15th century – English suave is first recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Sweet, pleasant (to the taste).^[3][7]
2. Fragrant.^[3]
3. Sweet-sounding, melodious.^[3]
4. Pleasant to look at.^[3]
5. Pleasant, delightful, charming, (colloquial) nice.^[3][1]

Word family

• suāvitās
• suāvitūdō
• suāviter

Related words

• suādeō
• English suave
• English assuage
• English persuade

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes suavis, properly a pleasant smell and a calm pleasure, from dulcis, a pleasant taste and a livelier pleasure, so that dulcis is the stronger word.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper