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The corpus record — Latin

dulcis

dulcis

sweet

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 161 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. dulcis — de Vaan

dulcis 'sweet' [adj. i] (PL+) Derivatives: dulciculus [adj.] * sweet little' (PL+), dulcitas 'sweetness' (Acc,+), dulcedo, -inis * sweetness' (Lucr.+); dulcifer 'containing sweetness' (PL, Enn.). Pit *dulkwi-*sweet'. IE cognates: Gr. γλυκύς [adj.] * sweet' > Myc. de-re-u-ko perhaps ldleukosly Gr. γλεύκος [η,] 'sweet wine' (Arist; recent); αγλευκής 'sour' (Epich.)Since Latin /-stem adj. are often formed from w-stems, … — [de Vaan, s.v. dulcis, p. 196]

2. dulcis — Lewis & Short

dulcis, e, adj.from gulcis, by dissimilation; cf. ten-ebrae from root tam-; root in Sanscr. gul-jam, sweetness; Gr. gluku/s, glukero/s, sweet,

I sweet (very freq.; cf.: suavis, venustus, jucundus, gratus, acceptus, amoenus, etc.).
I Lit., opp. amarus: (animal) sentit et dulcia et amara, Cic. N. D. 3, 13; cf. Plaut. Cist. 1, 1, 72: mel, id. Asin. 3, 3, 24; id. Truc. 2, 4, 20; cf.: liquor mellis, Lucr. 1, 938; 4, 13: aqua, id. 6, 890: poma, id. 5, 1377; Hor. S. 2, 5, 12: vinum, id. C. 3, 12, 1; cf. merum, id. ib. 3, 13, 2: dolium, id. Epod. 2, 47: olivum, id. S. 2, 4, 64: sapor, id. C. 3, 1, 19 et saep.—Comp.: uva, Ov. M. 13, 795.—Sup.: panis, Plin. 18, 10, 20, § 92 et saep.—Hence,
B Subst. and heterocl., dulcia, ōrum, n., sweet cakes, honey-cakes, sugar-cakes (late Lat.), Vop. Tac. 6; Lampr. Heliog. 26; 31; Prud. Psych. 429.—
II Trop., agreeable, delightful, pleasant, charming, soft, flattering.
A In gen.: dulcia atque amara apud te sum elocutus omnia, Plaut. Ps. 2, 4, 2; cf. id. ib. 1, 1, 61; id. Truc. 1, 2, 78: vita, Lucr. 2, 997; cf.: lumina vitae, id. 5, 989: solacia, vitae, id. 5, 21: orator, Cic. Off. 1, 1, 3; cf. of orators or writers, Quint. 10, 1, 77; 73; 12, 10, 44; cf. also: non quo ea (oratione) Laelii quicquam sit dulcius, Cic. Brut. 21, 83: genus dicendi, Quint. 2, 8, 4: carmen, id. 12, 10, 33: poëmata, Hor. A. P. 99 et saep.: nomen libertatis, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 63; cf. id. Att. 15, 13, 3: auditu nomen, Liv. 24, 21, 3: amores, Hor. C. 1, 9, 15: otium, id. Epod. 1, 8: fortuna, id. C. 1, 37, 11: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, Hor. C. 3, 2, 13.—With dat.: mensae dulcis herili canis, Val. Fl. 7, 130.—Prov.: dulce etiam fugias, fieri quod amarum potest, Pub. Syr. 144 Rib. —Sup.: epistola, Cic. Att. 15, 13, 4: quod in amicissimo quoque dulcissimum est, id. Lael. 23 fin. al.—
B In partic. of friends, lovers, etc., friendly, pleasant, agreeable, charming, kind, dear: amici (opp. acerbi inimici), Cic. Lael. 24 fin.; cf.: amicitia remissior esse debet et liberior et dulcior, id. ib. 18 fin.: liberi, Hor. Epod. 2, 40; cf. nata, id. S. 2, 3, 199: alumnus, id. C. 3, 23, 7; id. Ep. 1, 4, 8.—Hence, in addressing a person: optime et dulcissime frater, Cic. Leg. 3, 11; cf.: dulcissime Attice, id. Att. 6, 2, 9: mi dulcissime Tiro, Cic. Fil. Fam. 16, 21, 2: dulcis amice, Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 12: dulce decus meum, id. C. 1, 1, 2.—Absol.: quid agis, dulcissime rerum? Hor. S. 1, 9, 4.— Hence, adv. (acc. to II.), agreeably, delightfully.
(a) dulcĭter, Cic. Fin. 2, 6, 18; Quint. 1, 10, 24; 4, 2, 62; 9, 4, 14; 12, 10, 71. —
(b) dulce, Cat. 51, 5; Hor. C. 1, 22, 23; 24; id. Ep. 1, 7, 27; Stat. S. 3, 4, 8; id. Th. 4, 274.—
b Comp.: dulcius spirare, Quint. 12, 10, 27; Prop. 1, 2, 14.—
c Sup.: dulcissime scripta, Cic. Brut. 19, 77.

3. dulcis — Walde–Hofmann

dulcis, -e „süß“ (im Geschmack); übtr. ,lieblich, angenehm" (vgl. gr. YAuxüc; spez. vom Charakter ‚sanft, mild‘ (opp. amärus, insuávis], von Hier. in Eph. 4, 31 p. 636 als volkssprchl. bezeugt, Lammert Phil. 75, 396 f., seit Enn. [-iter seit Cic.], rom., ebenso duleäre „süßen“ seit Diosc., dulcor, -öris „Süßigkeit“ seit Tert, (dulcoráre seit Fulg.]; vgl. noch Demin. -iculus seit Plaut., -ifds seit Caecil., -itdO … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. dulcis, p. 411]

In the wild

6 of 1,201 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. dulcis (scan p. 196; entry #457). Root candidates: *dolk-.
  • Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. dulcis (scan pp. 411-415; entry #970). Root candidates: *dA-, *doleuk-, *to-.

Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.