pulcher

Latin

Alternative forms

• pulcer

Etymology

Unknown. 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 rejects that connection as both irregular and semantically incompatible/tenuous, and assigns no known etymology.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpul.kʰer/, [ˈpʊɫ̪.kʰɛr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpul.ker/, [ˈpul.kɛr]

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, fōrmōsus

2. (figuratively) noble, honorable, excellent

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

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