English
pliant
Pliant comes from Old French ploiant, 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. 842–1400ploiantpresent participle of ploiier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pliaunt
- Englishearliest quotation 1594pliant
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. 842–1400ploiantpresent participle of ploiier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pliaunt
- Englishearliest quotation 1594pliant
Earliest quotation: 1594, Christopher Marlowe, King of England: […]: “I muſt haue wanton Poets, pleaſant wits, Muſitians, that…”
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, reply, employment, employ, exploitation, exploit, imply, explicit, deploy, replica, implicit, complication, ploy, complicate, accomplice, inexplicable, complicity, supple, implicate, supplication, triplicate, explication, splay, 21 more
through Old French ploiier ‘to fold’
Today it means
adj Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / pliant