douceur French · revision 17574

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1119, Philippe de Thaon|origins=la dulcis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /du.sœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''douceur''' ''f'' (plural douceurs)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|dulçur]] (1119), [[m|fro|dolçor]] (about 1170), [[m|fro|douçor]]; the spelling ''douceur'' is from the 13th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) Anglo-Norman also had ''doçour'' and ''duceur''.^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|dolçor]], [[inh|la-lat|dulcor|t=sweet taste]], derived from [[m|la|dulcis|t=sweet]], and remade after the feminine [[douce]] of [[doux]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Cognate with [[pcd|doucheur]], [[pro|dolzor]], [[es|dulzor]] and [[it|dolciore]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon's ''Comput'' (1119) has ''itele dulçur'', of the gentleness of a person.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1170 Chrétien de Troyes speaks of the ''dolçors'' of kisses, a pleasure of the senses, and the Châtelain de Coucy of the ''douçor d'esté'', the mildness of summer.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989) About 1200 the plural ''les douçors'' named sweet foods; today ''des douceurs'', sweets, is jocular.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Richelet in 1680 records the sweetness of smells, of the voice and of the skin.^(TLFi) Corneille's ''Le Menteur'' (1642) has ''en douceur'', gently, now also used of a car that starts smoothly.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In trade the word meant the moderation of prices in the early 19th century.^(BHVF) Du Bellay's ''douceur angevine'' is a famous line on the mildness of a climate.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1119 – ''Dulçur'' in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Dolçor'' in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – ''Les douçors'', sweet foods.^(TLFi)

+ * 1642 – ''En douceur'', in Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – Richelet records the sweetness of smells and voices.^(TLFi)

+ * 1803 – ''La douceur de ses prix'', moderate prices.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(rare)'' [[m|en|sweetness|alt=Sweetness]] of taste: ''la douceur d'un fruit, du miel''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Sweets, [[friandise|alt=treats]]: ''offrir des douceurs à un enfant''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # The quality of what is pleasant to the senses; [[m|en|softness]], mildness: ''la douceur du velours'', ''la douceur du climat''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Smoothness of a movement or mechanism: ''la douceur d'un démarrage'', ''en douceur'', smoothly, without a jolt.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # [[m|en|gentleness|alt=Gentleness]], kindness of character or manner: ''traiter un animal avec douceur''.^(Larousse)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[doucereux]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[doux]]

+ * [[doucement]]

+ * [[adoucir]]

+ * [[radoucir]]

+ * [[la|dulcis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}