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Origin and history of pliant

pliant(adj.)

late 14c., pliaunt, "capable of being easily bent, flexible, supple," from Old French ploiant "bending, supple; compliant, fickle," as a noun, "turncoat" (13c.), present participle of ploier "to bend," from Latin plicare "to fold, lay" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait"). Figurative sense of "readily influenced (for good or ill), easily persuaded" is from c. 1400. Related: Pliancy.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to pliant

*plek-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to plait." It is an extended form of root *pel- (2) "to fold."

It might form all or part of: accomplice; application; apply; complex; complexion; complicate; complication; complicity; deploy; display; duplex; duplicate; duplicity; employ; explicate; explicit; exploit; flax; implex; implicate; implication; implicit; imply; multiply; perplex; perplexity; plait; plash (v.2) "to interlace;" pleat; -plex; plexus; pliable; pliant; plie; plight (n.1) "condition or state;" ply (v.1) "work with, use;" ply (v.2) "to bend; ply (n.) "a layer, fold;" replica; replicate; replication; reply; simplex; splay; triplicate.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit prasna- "turban;" Greek plekein "to plait, braid, wind, twine," plektos "twisted;" Latin plicare "to lay, fold, twist," plectere (past participle plexus) "to plait, braid, intertwine;" Old Church Slavonic plesti "to braid, plait, twist," Russian plesti; Gothic flahta "braid;" Old Norse fletta, Old High German flehtan "to plait;" Old English fleax "cloth made with flax, linen."

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    Trends of pliant

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    pliable
    late 14c., "easy to be bent, readily yielding to force or pressure without rupture," from Old French ploiable "flexible, bendable," from plier "to bend," from Latin plicare "to fold, lay" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait"). The figurative sense of "flexible in disposition, readily
    elastic
    1650s, formerly also elastick, coined in French (1650s) as a scientific term to describe gases, "having the property of recovering its former volume after compression," from Modern Latin elasticus, from Greek elastos "ductile, flexible," related to elaunein "to strike, beat out,"
    flexible
    early 15c., "capable of being bent; mentally or spiritually pliant," from Old French flexible or directly from Latin flexibilis "that may be bent, pliant, flexible, yielding;" figuratively "tractable, inconstant," from flex-, past participle stem of flectere "to bend," which is o
    supple
    c. 1300, "soft, tender," from Old French souple, sople "pliant, flexible; humble, submissive" (12c.), from Gallo-Roman *supples...Meaning "pliant" is from late 14c.; figurative sense of "artfully obsequious, capable of adapting oneself to the wishes and...
    inflexible
    inflexible and directly from Latin inflexibilis "that cannot be bent," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + flexibilis "pliant...
    meek
    injury or annoyance; humble, unassuming;" of a woman, "modest," from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse mjukr "soft, pliant...
    limber
    "pliant, flexible," 1560s, of uncertain origin, possibly from limb (n.1) on notion of supple boughs of a tree [Barnhart],...
    plastic
    1630s, "capable of shaping or molding a mass of matter," from Latin plasticus, from Greek plastikos "fit for molding, capable of being molded into various forms; pertaining to molding," also in reference to the arts, from plastos "molded, formed," verbal adjective from plassein "
    Castile
    medieval Spanish county and later kingdom, from Vulgar Latin *castilla, from Latin castella, plural of castellum "castle, fort, citadel, stronghold" (see castle (n.)); so called in reference to the many fortified places there during the Moorish wars. The name in Spanish is said t
    ductile
    mid-14c., "hammered, beaten out or shaped with a hammer," from Old French ductile or directly from Latin ductilis "that may be led or drawn," from past participle of ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead"). From 1560s as "flexible, pliable;" 1620s as "capable of being d

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    Dictionary entries near pliant
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