dulcis

From Proto-Italic *dulkwis (“sweet”), most likely akin to Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”), both traditionally derived from a tentative Proto-Indo-European *dl̥kús (“sweet”),[1][2][3][4][5][6] although the fall of -u- in the Latin form would be left unexplained,[n 1] and the Greek form is problematic as well.[3][5] Given that Latin and Greek are linguistically quite distant while being very close geographically, it is likely the word does not go back PIE[4] as it may be borrowed from a common unknown source, possibly related to lac (“milk”).[6]

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdul.kis/, [ˈd̪ʊɫ̪kɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈdul.t͡ʃis/, [ˈd̪ul̠ʲt͡ʃis]

dulcis (neuter dulce, comparative dulcior, superlative dulcissimus, adverb dulcē or dulciter); third-declension two-termination adjective

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
   • 8 CE – 12 CE, Ovid, Sorrows 5.13.22:

     cāna prius gelidō dēsint absinthia Pontō
     et careat dulcī Trīnacris Hybla thymō

     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 decōrum est prō patriā morī.

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

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 1.342:

     tum pinguēs agnī et tum mollissima vīna
     tum somnī dulcēs dēnsaeque in montibus umbrae

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

   • c. 15 BCE – c. 50 CE, Phaedrus, 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, Georgics 4.465:

     tē, dulcis coniūnx, tē sōlō in lītore secum […]

     You, his dear wife, on the lone shore alone, […]

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

• (agreeable): acceptus, amoenus, grātus, iūcundus
• (charming, friendly): venustus
• (sweet): suāvis

• (antonym(s) of “sweet”): amārus

• dulcātor
• dulciārius
• dulcōrō

• “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.