pulcher

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *porkros, from Proto-Indo-European *porḱrós. Possibly from earlier polcher, which according to Walde-Hoffman and Pokorny reflects Proto-Indo-European *perḱ- (“motley, variegated”), with dissimilation *perḱ-ro-s > *pelḱ-ro-s, which would make it cognate to Sanskrit पृश्नि (pṛ́śni). De Vaan[1] rejects that connection as both irregular and semantically incompatible/tenuous, and assigns no known etymology.

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

References
  • “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 Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
  1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 496
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