English
pliable
Pliable comes from Old French ploiable, from ploiier ‘to fold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōas plicāre‘to fold, bend or flex’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ploiier‘to fold’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400ploiable
- Englishtodaypliable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōas plicāre‘to fold, bend or flex’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ploiier‘to fold’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400ploiable
- Englishtodaypliable
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’
complex, replication, fiasco, flax, flack, plexus, flagon, 33 more
through Latin plicō ‘to fold, bend or flex’
apply, display, employment, reply, employ, exploitation, exploit, explicit, imply, deploy, replica, implicit, complication, ploy, complicate, accomplice, complicity, implicate, supple, inexplicable, supplication, triplicate, explication, splay, 21 more
through Old French ploiier ‘to fold’
Today it means
adj Soft, flexible, easily bent, formed, shaped, or molded.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / pliable