molcere

Italian

Alternative forms

• mùlcere, molcire, mulcire (rare)

Etymology

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin mulcēre, with change of conjugation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmol.t͡ʃe.re/
• Rhymes: -oltʃere
• Hyphenation: mól‧ce‧re

Verb

mólcere (third-person only, third-person singular present mólce, third-person singular past historic mólse, no past participle, no future)

1. (transitive) to soothe, comfort, assuage

Usage notes

• The various sources differ slightly on which forms are attested but all agree the verb is highly defective. Treccani and Hoepli mention some first-person forms, but DOP specifically says mai nella 1a pers., mai nei tempi composti (“never in the first person, never in the composed tenses”), so the first-person forms given may be mistakes for third-person forms.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mólcere (root-stressed -ere; third-person only; irregular; defective) (See Appendix:Italian verbs)

infinitive	mólcere
auxiliary verb		—	gerund		molcèndo
present participle		—	past participle		—
person	singular			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	io	tu	lui/lei, esso/essa	noi	voi	loro, essi/esse
present	—	—	mólce	—	—	—
imperfect	—	—	molcéva	—	—	—
past historic	—	—	mólse	—	—	—
future	—	—	—	—	—	—
conditional	io	tu	lui/lei, esso/essa	noi	voi	loro, essi/esse
present	—	—	—	—	—	—
subjunctive	che io	che tu	che lui/che lei, che esso/che essa	che noi	che voi	che loro, che essi/che esse
present	—	—	mólca	—	—	mólcano
imperfect	—	—	molcésse	—	—	—
imperative	—	tu	Lei	noi	voi	Loro
		—	—	—	—	—
negative imperative		—	—	—	—	—

Further reading

• molcere in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• molcere in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• molcere in Bruno Migliorini et al., Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, Rai Eri, 2007