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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpul.kʰer/, [ˈpʊɫ̪kʰɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpul.ker/, [ˈpulker]

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

• pulchellus
• pulchrālia
• pulchrē
• pulchritās
• pulchritūdō

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