meekly









meekly


adjective, meek·er, meek·est.

  1. humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others.
  2. overly submissive or compliant; spiritless; tame.
  3. Obsolete. gentle; kind.

adjective

  1. patient, long-suffering, or submissive in disposition or nature; humble
  2. spineless or spiritless; compliant
  3. an obsolete word for gentle

adv.c.1200, from meek (adj.) + -ly (2). adj.c.1200, “gentle, quiet, unaggressive; benevolent, kind; courteous, humble, unassuming;” of a woman, “modest,” from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse mjukr “soft, pliant, gentle”), from Proto-Germanic *meukaz (cf. Gothic muka-modei “humility,” Dutch muik “soft”), of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *meug- “slippery, slimy.” In the Bible, it translates Latin mansuetus from Vulgate (see mansuetude). Sense of “submissive” is from mid-14c. n.“those who are meek,” c.1200, from meek (adj.).

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