Etymologically
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suavis

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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
  • 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