Compliant
/kəmˈplaɪ.ənt/noun
Willing to do what is asked or required; obedient or conforming.
Did you know?It comes through the idea of ‘filling up’ or ‘completing’ a request: Latin *complēre* meant to fill up, and the word’s later sense drifted into the modern idea of yielding or conforming.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pleh₁-
“to fill”
Latin
Latin
complēre
“to fill up, complete”
Latin
Latin
complēns / complīant-
“filling up; compliant, yielding”
14th–15th Century
Middle English
compliaunt
“yielding, submissive; also obedient”
Modern English
English
compliant
“disposed to comply; conforming to a demand or rule”
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