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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French adoucir, adolcir, from dolz, douz (sweet), from Latin dulcis (sweet). By surface analysis, a- +‎ doux +‎ -ir.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /a.du.siʁ/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -iʁ

Verb

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adoucir

  1. (transitive) (of foods, flavors, scents, etc.) to sweeten
    La sauce est trop salée ; je vais l’adoucir un peu.The sauce is too salty; I'll sweeten it a bit.
  2. (transitive; figurative) (of any unpleasant thing) to make (more) agreeable, pleasant, mild, delicate, etc.
    adoucir la douleurto soften the pain
  3. (transitive) (of something physically rough or coarse) to soften, to smooth
  4. (transitive) (of water) to soften
    Il existe plusieurs méthodes pour adoucir l’eau.Several methods exist for softening water.
  5. (transitive; figurative) to soften, to make more delicate; (of colors, as in visual arts like painting) to lighten, to brighten
  6. (transitive; figuratively) to appease; to calm; to make less angry or aggressive
  7. (pronominal) to become sweeter; to become milder
  8. (pronominal; figurative) to become more pleasant or agreeable

Conjugation

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This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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