douceur

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from French douceur (“sweetness”), from Old French dolçor, dulcur, etc., from Latin dulcōr +‎ -em, from dulcis (“sweet”). Naturalized in Middle English as douceoure, dousour but treated as a French loanword from the 17th century onward. Doublet of dulcour. === Pronunciation === === Noun === douceur (countable and uncountable, plural douceurs) Sweetness of manner: agreeableness, gentleness. (obsolete) Sweet speech: a compliment. A sweetener: a gift offered to sweeten another's attitude, a tip or bribe. (UK) A tax break provided as an inducement to sell valuable items (especially art) to public collections rather than on the open market. ==== Synonyms ==== (sweet speech): See Thesaurus:praise (sweetener): See gift, gratuity, and Thesaurus:bribe === References === Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "douceur, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. == Dutch == === Etymology === From French douceur. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /duˈsøːr/ === Noun === douceur m (plural douceurs, diminutive douceurtje n) (generally in the diminutive) douceur, sweetener Ik heb als douceurtje bij de deal ook maar een fles goede wijn gegeven. ― I added a bottle of good wine to the deal as a sweetener. == French == === Etymology === Inherited from Old French dolçor, from Late Latin dulcōrem, from Latin dulcis. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /du.sœʁ/ === Noun === douceur f (plural douceurs) softness, tenderness sweetness ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Dutch: douceur → English: douceur === Further reading === “douceur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012