Wiktionary

pliant

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English pliaunt, from Old French ploiant,[1] present participle of ploiier (“to fold”).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈplaɪənt/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪənt

Adjective edit

pliant (comparative more pliant, superlative most pliant)

  1. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking.
    Synonyms: flexible, pliable, lithe, limber, plastic
    a pliant thread
    pliant wax
    • 1917 April, “The Warblers of North America”, in The National Geographic Magazine:
      Whether in its northern or southern home, the black-throated blue warbler builds its nest of bark, roots, and other pliant material, loose and rather bulky, in a variety of saplings, bushes, and weeds, but always a few inches or a few feet from the ground.
  2. (figuratively) Easily influenced; tractable.
    • 1594 (first publication), Christopher Marlow[e], The Trovblesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edvvard the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
      I must haue wanton Poets, pleasant wits,
      Musitians, that with touching of a string
      May draw the pliant king which way I please:
    • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 11, recto:
      [A]nd it is without all controuerſie, that learning doth make the minds of men gentle, generous, maniable, and pliant to gouernment; whereas Ignorance makes them churlish[,] thwart, and mutinous; […]
    • 1839, William Gilmore Simms, “The Brooklet”, in Southern Passages and Pictures‎[1], New York: George Adlard, page 2:
      Yet there was pleasant sadness that became
      Meetly the gentle heart and pliant sense,
      In that same idlesse—gazing on that brook
    • 1988, A. J. Langguth, Patriots:
      [The king] had a pliant prime minister and a general who was telling him what he wanted to hear.
    • 2023 November 4, Madhumita Murgia, Anna Gross, Cristina Criddle, “Summit exposes tensions over AI development despite emollient Chinese tone”, in FT Weekend, page 12:
      The person said one of the reasons the Chinese had been so pliant in development of a joint position on AI governance was that “playing nice” and acting as a “responsible partner” could help foster conversations about relaxation of US trade barriers later down the line.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pleḱ-‎ (0 c, 24 e)

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “pliant”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams edit

French edit

Participle edit

pliant

  1. present participle of plier

Adjective edit

pliant (feminine pliante, masculine plural pliants, feminine plural pliantes)

  1. pliant
    Sa mère a acheté un vélo pliant. ― His mother bought a folding bicycle.

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French pliant.

Adjective edit

pliant m or n (feminine singular pliantă, masculine plural plianți, feminine and neuter plural pliante)

  1. folding

Declension edit

Declension of pliant
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite pliant pliantă plianți pliante
definite pliantul plianta plianții pliantele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite pliant pliante plianți pliante
definite pliantului pliantei plianților pliantelor
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