dulcis

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dl̥kú- (“sweet”). Cognate with Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdul.kis/, [ˈdʊɫ.kɪs]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈdul.t͡ʃis/

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Adjective

dulcis (neuter dulce); third declension

1. (of taste) sweet
   • 234 BCE – 149 BCE, Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura 157.1

     omnia ad salutem temperat conmutatque sese semper cum calore arida simul et umida et dulcis et amara et acris

     It has all the virtues necessary for health, and constantly changes its nature along with the heat, being moist and dry, sweet, bitter, and acid.

2. sweet-smelling, sweet-scented, fragrant
   • 43 BCE – c. 17 CE, Ovid, Tristia 5.13.22

     / cana prius gelido desint absinthia Ponto / et careat dulci Trinacris Hybla thymo /

     Sooner would pale wormwood be missing from icy Pontus or Sicilian Hybla lack its sweet-scented thyme

3. sweet-sounding, melodic, melodious, tuneful
   • 46 BCE, Cicero, Brutus 57

     dicit plorare etiam Demosthenes istum quem saepe dicat voce dulci et clara fuisse

     Demosthenes, however, says most upon this head, and often speaks of his accuser as having a sweet-sounding and clear pronunciation.

4. (figuratively) agreeable, delightful, pleasant, soft, sweet
   • 23 BCE – 13 BCE, Horace, Odes 3.2.13

     Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

     Sweet and fitting it is to die for one's fatherland.

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgicon 1.342

     / tum pingues agni et tum mollissima vina / tum somni dulces densaeque in montibus umbrae /

     Then lambs are fat, and wines are mellowest then; then sleep is sweet, and dark the shadows fall upon the mountains.

   • Phædrus, Fabulae 7.1

     Quam dulcis sit lībertās breviter prōloquar.

     Let me declare briefly how sweet freedom is.

5. (figuratively, of persons) friendly, charming, kind, dear, pleasant, agreeable
   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgicon 4.465

     / te, dulcis coniunx, te solo in litore secum /

     You, his dear wife, on the lone shore alone,

References

• dulcis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• dulcis in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• dulcis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette