pulcher
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-. De Vaan has questioned this change, thinking that the second *rshould have disappeared instead, and thus leaves this term without an etymology. Connection with poliō (“to polish, smooth”) or polleō (“to be strong”) is to be excluded. The aspiration is often considered secondary when the word would have been made to derive from Ancient Greek πολύχροος(polúkhroos, “multicolor”) by folk etymology, while an Etruscan borrowing is usually discarded.
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈpʊɫ.kʰɛr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈpul.ker]
pulcher (feminine pulchra, neuter pulchrum, comparative pulchrior, superlative pulcherrimus, adverb pulchrē); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)
- beautiful, fair, pretty
- Synonyms: bellus, speciōsus, fōrmōsus
- (figuratively) noble, honorable, excellent
- Synonyms: nōbilis, honōrābilis, excellēns
First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
| nominative | pulcher | pulchra | pulchrum | pulchrī | pulchrae | pulchra | |
| genitive | pulchrī | pulchrae | pulchrī | pulchrōrum | pulchrārum | pulchrōrum | |
| dative | pulchrō | pulchrae | pulchrō | pulchrīs | |||
| accusative | pulchrum | pulchram | pulchrum | pulchrōs | pulchrās | pulchra | |
| ablative | pulchrō | pulchrā | pulchrō | pulchrīs | |||
| vocative | pulcher | pulchra | pulchrum | pulchrī | pulchrae | pulchra | |