suavis

Latin

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (“sweet”).[1][2][3] The extension of the u-stem into an i-stem is regular (compare brevis, tenuis) and must have occurred before the loss of *-d- in medial *-dw-.[3]

Pronunciation
  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈsu̯aː.u̯is/, [ˈs̠u̯äːu̯ɪs̠]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈswa.vis/, [ˈswäːvis]
  • (Classical) IPA(key): /suˈaː.u̯is/, [s̠uˈäːu̯ɪs̠]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /suˈa.vis/, [suˈäːvis]
  • Note: the first u is found scanned as a consonant glide in Plautus, Terence and classical poetry, but sparely also as a vowel in some Late Latin poetry of the 5th and 6th centuries, with Romance descendants typically reflecting the latter. However, compare the early attestation of sŭādent in Lucretius.

Adjective

suāvis (neuter suāve, comparative suāvior, superlative suāvissimus, adverb suāve or suāviter); third-declension two-termination adjective

  1. sweet, pleasant, delicious

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masc./Fem. Neuter Masc./Fem. Neuter
Nominative suāvis suāve suāvēs suāvia
Genitive suāvis suāvium
Dative suāvī suāvibus
Accusative suāvem suāve suāvēs
suāvīs		 suāvia
Ablative suāvī suāvibus
Vocative suāvis suāve suāvēs suāvia

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Catalan: suau
  • Italian: soave, suave
  • Old French: soef
    • Middle French: souef
      • Norman: souef
  • → Middle English: suave
  • → Middle French: suave
  • → Portuguese: suave
  • → Spanish: suave

References
  1. Pokorny, Julius (1959) “su̯ād-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1039f.
  2. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “suāvis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 594
  3. Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, § 185.2, page 180

Further reading
  • “suavis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “suavis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • suavis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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