What does dolce in Italian mean?

What is the meaning of the word dolce in Italian? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use dolce in Italian.

The word dolce in Italian means sweet, mild, gentle, sweet, nice, kind, dear, gradual, gentle, fresh, soft, palatal, sweetness, dessert, soft, malleable, sweet part, fresh water, freshwater, home sweet home, be expecting, signature dessert, signature sweet, sweet and savoury, sweet and savoury, better half, mercy killing, Dolce Stil Novo, mild weather, a typical dessert, recorder, low-impact exercise, pleasant idleness, Being shipwrecked is sweet to me in this sea, my other half, leave a sweet taste, soft wood, light metal, dessert knife, freshwater fish. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word dolce

sweet

aggettivo (dal gusto zuccherino)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Questa minestra di zucca ha un sapore molto dolce.
This squash soup has a very sweet taste.

mild, gentle

aggettivo (figurato (soave, gradevole, mite)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Che dolce giornata primaverile!
What a mild (or: gentle) spring day!

sweet, nice, kind, dear

aggettivo (figurato (affettuoso, gentile, tenero)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Questi fiori sono per me? Quanto sei dolce!
Are these flowers for me? You're so sweet!

gradual, gentle

aggettivo (figurato (salita: non ripida)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Una dolce salita conduceva alla villa.
A gentle slope led to the villa.

fresh

aggettivo (acqua: povera di sali) (water)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Questa specie di crostaceo sopravvive solo in acque dolci.
This species of crustacean only lives in fresh water.

soft, palatal

aggettivo (fonetica (suono: sonoro, palatale) (phonetics)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Il suono della lettera "c" in "ciao" è dolce.
The sound of the letter "c" in "ciao" is soft (or: palatal).

sweetness

sostantivo maschile (sapore)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Preferisco il dolce al salato.
I prefer sweetness over saltiness.

dessert

sostantivo maschile (dessert)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Se non finite di mangiare la carne, non avrete il dolce.
ⓘQuesta frase non è una traduzione della frase inglese. The doctor said to cut down on sweets.

soft, malleable

aggettivo (figurato (materiale: malleabile)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
È fatto di un materiale metallico molto dolce.
It's made of a very malleable metallic material.

sweet part

sostantivo maschile (piacere, cosa gradevole) (colloquial)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
He got a sweet deal on that car.

fresh water, freshwater

sostantivo femminile (lago, fiume: acqua non salata)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

home sweet home

interiezione (piacere di essere a casa propria)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

be expecting

(intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.")
Mia madre era in dolce attesa quando iniziò a soffrire di emicranie ricorrenti.

signature dessert, signature sweet

sostantivo maschile (dessert tipico di un ristorante)

Il nostro dolce della casa è la crostata di mele.
Our signature dessert is apple pie.

sweet and savoury

locuzione aggettivale

sweet and savoury

better half

(companion)

mercy killing

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Dolce Stil Novo

(poetry)

mild weather

sostantivo femminile (piacevole calore moderato)

a typical dessert

recorder

sostantivo maschile (strumento musicale)

low-impact exercise

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

pleasant idleness

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

Being shipwrecked is sweet to me in this sea

(Leopardi poem, literal translation)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

my other half

sostantivo femminile (informale (il mio/la mia consorte)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

leave a sweet taste

soft wood

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

light metal

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

dessert knife

freshwater fish

sostantivo maschile

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Let's learn Italian

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Do you know about Italian

Italian (italiano) is a Romance language and is spoken by about 70 million people, most of whom live in Italy. Italian uses the Latin alphabet. The letters J, K, W, X and Y do not exist in the standard Italian alphabet, but they still appear in loanwords from Italian. Italian is the second most widely spoken in the European Union with 67 million speakers (15% of the EU population) and it is spoken as a second language by 13.4 million EU citizens (3%). Italian is the principal working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. An important event that helped to the spread of Italian was Napoleon's conquest and occupation of Italy in the early 19th century. This conquest spurred the unification of Italy several decades later and pushed the language of the Italian language. Italian became a language used not only among secretaries, aristocrats and the Italian courts, but also by the bourgeoisie.