dulce

Forms

dulce m or f or n (plural dulci)^[1] MDA2 records the variant dulciu.^[2] The noun has the collective plural dulciuri “sweets”.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dulcem (“sweet”).^{[5][3][2][6][1]} Wiktionary allows for some reinforcement by Italian dolce.^[1] The Latin word is akin to Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”), and de Vaan thinks both may be borrowed from an unknown source.^[7][1]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian dulțe, Megleno-Romanian dulți and Istro-Romanian dulce.^[5][8][9] It is a pan-Romance word: French doux, Occitan dous, Catalan dolç, Spanish dulce and Portuguese doce.^[5][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the personal name Limbadulce “sweet tongue” in a Slavonic charter of 1433.^[5][10] As a common word it appears in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, about 1500, in the sense “sweet” (Psalm 18).^[5][11]

Semantic evolution

The first translators used dulce- as a compound element for “good, blessed”, a calque of Old Church Slavonic благо- (blago-): dulce-cuvânta “to bless” after Old Church Slavonic благословити (blagosloviti) (1551–1558), dulce-credincios “pious” and dulce-vesti “to preach the gospel” (1566).^[5][12] These compounds did not survive.^[5]

From the taste sense the word passed to fresh milk and unsalted cheese, fresh water, a gentle slope, a mild climate, and pleasant sounds and people.^[4][5] In Transylvania and Maramureș frate dulce and soră dulce meant a full brother or sister, as opposed to a half-sibling.^[5][10] As a noun it named the time between fasts when meat and dairy food are allowed, and de dulce food not eaten in Lent.^[5][4] Bube dulci is a popular name for impetigo.^[5] The phrase a face ochi dulci “to make eyes at someone” follows French faire les yeux doux.^[5] Romanian dulce passed into Ukrainian.^[3]

Timeline

• 1433 – the personal name Limbadulce, the first record.^[5]
• early 16th century – dulce “sweet” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[5][11]
• 1551–1558 – dulce-cuvânta “to bless” in the Psaltirea Voroneț.^[5]
• 1560–1561 – dulceață “sweetness” in Coresi's Tetraevanghel.^[5]
• 1812 – dedulci “to break the fast” in Șincai.^[5]
• 1840 – dulceag “sweetish”.^[5]
• 1890 – dulcegărie “sentimental mush” in N. Iorga.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sweet: tasting like honey or sugar, or sweetened.^[4][1]
2. Of milk: fresh, not fermented, and of cheese: unsalted or only lightly salted.^[4]
3. Of water: fresh, from a river, spring or well, not salt.^[4]
4. (figurative) Pretty, gentle, pleasant: a smile, a voice, a scent.^[4]
5. (figurative) Of sleep: calm, restful, of a slope: gentle, easy to climb, and of climate: mild.^[4]
6. (figurative) Of people: kind, lovable, dear.^[4]

Noun

1. The period when believers may eat meat and dairy food, whence de dulce “not for days of fasting”.^[4][13]
2. (chiefly in the plural) dessert, sweets: dulciuri.^[4][13]

Word family

• dedulceală
• dedulci
• dulceag
• dulceață
• dulcegărie
• dulcețăreasă
• dulcișor
• dulciu
• dulcoare
• dulcuț
• îndulci

Related words

• Aromanian dulțe
• Latin dulcis

Usage notes

A face ochi dulci cuiva means “to make eyes at someone, to flirt”.^[4][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 769
3. ^ a b c d Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. dulce
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 335
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. dulce
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2792
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 418
9. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 179
10. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. dulce
11. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 18:11
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A. (1916), Psaltirea Scheiană comparată cu celelalte psaltiri din sec. XVI și XVII traduse din slavonește, vol. II: Glosarele, București: Socec, p. 285
13. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. dulce