pliant
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English pliaunt, from Old French ploiant,[1] present participle of ploiier (“to fold”).
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˈplaɪənt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -aɪənt
Adjective
editpliant (comparative more pliant, superlative most pliant)
- Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking.
- 1917 April, “The Warblers of North America”, in The National Geographic Magazine:
- Whether in its northern or southern home, the black-throated blue warbler builds its nest of bark, roots, and other pliant material, loose and rather bulky, in a variety of saplings, bushes, and weeds, but always a few inches or a few feet from the ground.
- (figuratively) Easily influenced; tractable.
- 1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [R. Robinson] for William Iones […], →OCLC, [Act I], signature A3, recto:
- I muſt haue wanton Poets, pleaſant wits,
Muſitians, that with touching of a ſtring
May draw the pliant king which way I pleaſe: […]
- 1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 11, recto:
- [A]nd it is without all controuerſie, that learning doth make the minds of men gentle, generous, maniable, and pliant to gouernment; whereas Ignorance makes them churliſh, thwart, and mutinous; […]
- 1839, William Gilmore Simms, “The Brooklet”, in Southern Passages and Pictures[1], New York: George Adlard, page 2:
- Yet there was pleasant sadness that became
Meetly the gentle heart and pliant sense,
In that same idlesse—gazing on that brook
- 1988, A. J. Langguth, Patriots:
- [The king] had a pliant prime minister and a general who was telling him what he wanted to hear.
- 2023 November 4, Madhumita Murgia, Anna Gross, Cristina Criddle, “Summit exposes tensions over AI development despite emollient Chinese tone”, in FT Weekend, page 12:
- The person said one of the reasons the Chinese had been so pliant in development of a joint position on AI governance was that “playing nice” and acting as a “responsible partner” could help foster conversations about relaxation of US trade barriers later down the line.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editCapable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking
Easily influenced for good or evil
References
edit- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “pliant”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
editFrench
editParticiple
editpliant
Adjective
editpliant (feminine pliante, masculine plural pliants, feminine plural pliantes)
- pliant
- vélo pliant ― folding bicycle
Derived terms
editNoun
editpliant m (plural pliants)
- (colloquial) folding chair, seat, etc.
Further reading
edit- “pliant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
editRomanian
editEtymology
editAdjective
editpliant m or n (feminine singular pliantă, masculine plural plianți, feminine and neuter plural pliante)
Declension
editsingular | plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | |||
nominative- accusative |
indefinite | pliant | pliantă | plianți | pliante | |||
definite | pliantul | plianta | plianții | pliantele | ||||
genitive- dative |
indefinite | pliant | pliante | plianți | pliante | |||
definite | pliantului | pliantei | plianților | pliantelor |
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pleḱ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪənt
- Rhymes:English/aɪənt/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Personality
- French non-lemma forms
- French present participles
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- French terms with usage examples
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French colloquialisms
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives