dulcinea means sweetheart, ladylove. It carries an Arena rating of 1734, earned across 27 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dulcinea ranks #66 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #329 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #809 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #1,271 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
dulcinea is pronounced /ˌdʌlsɪˈniːə/.
Why “dulcinea” is a great word
DULCINEA — [Noun] An idealized sweetheart or ladylove, viewed through a lens of chivalric adoration. From Spanish Dulcinea, the name of Don Quixote's mistress in Cervantes’ novel, itself derived from Latin dulcis ("sweet"). First recorded in English use 1740–50. Unlike "mistress," which denotes a concrete relationship, or "paramour," which stresses a secret affair, a dulcinea is a creature of ardent fabrication. She is the farm girl transformed by a mad knight’s gaze, the perfect beloved whose only residence is in the ardent mind, the gentle flame seen through a distant window—a testament to the heart’s capacity to build its own necessary altars.
Etymology
From Spanish Dulcinea, the name of Don Quixote's mistress in Cervantes' romance. The name in Spanish is derived from Latin dulce, from Latin dulcis.
noun
- sweetheart, ladylove
- A mistress; a sweetheart.e.g.“I must ever have some Dulcinea in my head.” — 1768, Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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