Supple
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
supple¹
- /ˈsʌpəl/ UK, US
Rhymes with -ʌpəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English souple, from Old French souple, soupple (“soft, lithe, yielding”), from Latin supplic-, supplex (“suppliant, submissive, kneeling”), of uncertain formation. Either from sub + plicō (“bend”) (compare complex), or from sub + plācō (“placate”). More at sub-, placate.
adjective suppler · supplest
- Pliant, flexible, easy to bend. Global supply chains, meanwhile, have grown both tighter and more supple since the late 1990s—the result of improving information technology and of freer trade—making routine work easier to relocate.
- Lithe and agile when moving and bending. supple joints
- Compliant; yielding to the will of others. a supple horse
- Smooth and drinkable.
verb supples · suppling · suppled
- To make or become supple. The flesh therewith she suppled and did steepe
- To make compliant, submissive, or obedient. They should supple our stiff wilfulness.
Supple²
proper noun Supples
- A surname.
