pulcher

Latin

Alternative forms
  • pulcer
  • polcher, polcer (earlier)

Etymology

Uncertain. The earlier form polcer is traditionally derived from Proto-Italic *porkros, from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥ḱ-ró-s or Proto-Indo-European *perḱ-ro-, from the root *perḱ- (“motley, variegated”), with dissimilation of the first *-r- into *-l-,[1][2] though this has been challenged.[3] Connection with poliō (“to polish, smooth”) or polleō (“to be strong”) is to be excluded.[2] The aspiration is often considered secondary when the word would have been made to derive from Ancient Greek πολύχροος (polúkhroos, “multicolor”) by folk etymology,[n 1][5][4] while an Etruscan borrowing is usually discarded.[5][2]

Pronunciation

Adjective

pulcher (feminine pulchra, neuter pulchrum, comparative pulchrior, superlative pulcherrimus, adverb pulchrē); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

  1. beautiful, fair, pretty
    Synonyms: bellus, speciōsus, fōrmōsus
  2. (figuratively) noble, honorable, excellent
    Synonyms: nōbilis, honōrābilis, excellēns

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative pulcher pulchra pulchrum pulchrī pulchrae pulchra
Genitive pulchrī pulchrae pulchrī pulchrōrum pulchrārum pulchrōrum
Dative pulchrō pulchrō pulchrīs
Accusative pulchrum pulchram pulchrum pulchrōs pulchrās pulchra
Ablative pulchrō pulchrā pulchrō pulchrīs
Vocative pulcher pulchra pulchrum pulchrī pulchrae pulchra

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → Catalan: pulcre
  • French: poucre (dialectal)
  • → Italian: pulcro
  • → Portuguese: pulcro
  • → Spanish: pulcro

Notes
  1. For this compare triumphus, Carthāgō, and also English anthem, author, Anthony, etc.[4]

References
  1. Pokorny, Julius (1959) “perk̂-, prek̂-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 820–821
  2. Walde, Alois, Hofmann, Johann Baptist (1954) “pulcher”, in Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), 3rd edition, volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 384
  3. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “pulcher”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 496
  4. Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 142
  5. Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “pulcher”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots‎ (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 543

Further reading
  • “pulcher”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “pulcher”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • pulcher in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • “pulcher”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “pulcher”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
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