supple

supple
supple c.1300, from O.Fr. souple "pliant, flexible," from Gallo-Romance *supples, from L. supplex (gen. supplicis) "submissive, humbly begging," lit. "bending, kneeling down," thought to be an altered form of *supplacos "humbly pleading, appeasing," from sub "under" + placare "appease" (see PLACATE (Cf. placate)).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • supple — 1 flexible, resilient, *elastic, springy Analogous words: pliable, pliant, *plastic: *soft, gentle, mild Antonyms: stiff 2 Supple, limber, lithe, lithesome, lissome can all apply to bodily movements and mean showing freedom and ease in bending… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Supple — Sup ple, a. [OE. souple, F. souple, from L. supplex suppliant, perhaps originally, being the knees. Cf. {Supplicate}.] 1. Pliant; flexible; easily bent; as, supple joints; supple fingers. [1913 Webster] 2. Yielding compliant; not obstinate;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Supple — may refer to: *Flexibility, Supplenessas a surname: * John Supple, Canadian businessman * Shane Supple, Irish footballer * Tim Supple, English theatre director …   Wikipedia

  • supple — [sup′əl] adj. suppler, supplest [ME souple < OFr < L supplex, humble, submissive, akin to supplicare: see SUPPLICATE] 1. easily bent or twisted; flexible; pliant 2. able to bend and move easily and nimbly; lithe; limber [a supple body] 3.… …   English World dictionary

  • Supple — Sup ple, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Suppled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Suppling}.] 1. To make soft and pliant; to render flexible; as, to supple leather. [1913 Webster] The flesh therewith she suppled and did steep. Spenser. [1913 Webster] 2. To make compliant …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Supple — Sup ple, v. i. To become soft and pliant. [1913 Webster] The stones . . . Suppled into softness as they fell. Dryden. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • supple — index flexible, malleable, obedient, passive, pliable, pliant, servile, yielding Burton s Legal Thesaurus …   Law dictionary

  • supple — has the adverbial form supply (two syllables) rather than supplely (three syllables) …   Modern English usage

  • supple — [adj] bendable adaptable, agile, bending, ductile, elastic, flexible, graceful, limber, lissome, lithe, lithesome, malleable, moldable, plastic, pliable, pliant, resilient, rubber, springy, stretch, stretchy, svelte, willowy, wiry, yielding;… …   New thesaurus

  • supple — ► ADJECTIVE (suppler, supplest) ▪ flexible or pliant. DERIVATIVES suppleness noun. ORIGIN Latin supplex submissive …   English terms dictionary

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