dulcoare

Forms

dulcoare f (plural dulcori)^[1]

Etymology

DELR takes it as a learned loan, borrowed from Late Latin dulcor (“sweetness”), following Graur and the DLR, which give the same Latin source.^[2][3] The Latin noun was formed on Latin dulcis (“sweet”).^[1] Pușcariu, the REW and Pascu took the word as the inherited continuation of the same Latin word, and Ciorănescu reports their view.^[4][5][2] DELR thinks inheritance improbable, because the word first appears in the dictionaries of the Transylvanian School and afterwards only in some literary works.^[2] MDA2 and Wiktionary also see it as a Romanian formation, from Romanian dulce + -oare.^[6][1]

The REW compares French douceur, Occitan dolsor and Spanish dulzor, formed with the stem of the adjective.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is Samuil Micu's dictionary (1780–1801), with the sense “sweetness”.^[2] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses it with Latin suavitudo and dulcedo.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed mostly in dictionaries: the DLR knows its literal sense “sweetness” only from the dictionaries of the past.^[3] The Lexicon of Buda (1825) gives it as dulcóre with Latin dulcor, dulcitas and German Süßigkeit.^[8] The figurative senses “pleasure” and “grace” are recorded from Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 on.^[3][6] Micu also formed the adjective dulcuros “pleasant, sweet” on it, a word he alone used.^[2]

Timeline

• 1780–1801 – first record, in Samuil Micu's dictionary, together with dulcuros.^[2]
• 1801 – in Klein's dictionary.^[7]
• 1825 – dulcóre in the Lexicon of Buda.^[8][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) sweetness.^[6][3][1]
2. (figurative) pleasure; grace, charm.^[6][3]

Related words

• dulce
• dulceață

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. dulcoare
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dulcoare
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2793
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 770
7. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 356
8. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 200