comport
1 Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
noun
verb
-
(tr) to conduct or bear (oneself) in a specified way
-
to agree (with); correspond (to)
Etymology
Origin of comport1
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French comporter < Latin comportāre to transport, equivalent to com- com- + portāre to port 5
Origin of comport2
1765–75; alteration of French compotier a dish for compote; see -ier 2
Explanation
Comport means to behave, and particularly to behave well. If you attend a school for social etiquette, you will learn how to comport yourself properly at the dinner table. You’ll usually find comport in one of two phrases: with yourself, himself, etc., as in, "With all that burping, you did not comport yourself well at Aunt Edna’s party," or with the word with. When you see the second version, comport means something more like agree. For example, you could say, "I don’t think your ripped jeans and beat up t-shirt really comport with the guidelines for Casual Friday."
Vocabulary lists containing comport
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Things They Carried
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"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" by Patrick Henry (1775)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A meter in length and torpedo-shaped, the real gravestones — thirteen in total — belong to two branches of the Comport family, victims of malaria in the late 18th century.
From New York Times • Nov. 6, 2018
Comport thyself as I do bid thee and art a made man indeed.'
From Privy Seal His Last Venture by Ford, Ford Madox
Comport yourself among them independently, as one who will some day be chief of a British tribe, but be not sullen or obstinate.
From Beric the Briton : a Story of the Roman Invasion by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Comport thyself in life as at a banquet.
From Pearls of Thought by Ballou, Maturin Murray
Comport yourselves with propriety under all conditions, and be not numbered with the wayward.
From The Kitáb-i-Aqdas by Bahá'u'lláh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
