mansuetude
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of mansuetude
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin mānsuētūdō tameness, mildness, equivalent to mānsuē-, base of mānsuēscere to become tame, mild ( man ( us ) hand + suēscere to become accustomed) + -tūdō -tude
Explanation
The word mansuetude refers to a quality of gentleness, mildness, or tameness. For a new rider, mansuetude is a very desirable quality in a horse. Mansuetude is a noun form of an adjective that is obsolete: The word mansuete meant "gentle, meek, or tame," but it's no longer used. The word's Latin roots are manus, meaning "hand," and suescere, "to accustom." In literature, you might see the word used to describe gentleness in a person or imaginary being: "The giant looked frightening, but he displayed a surprising mansuetude." The word can describe things in nature, too: for example, "the mansuetude of the morning breeze after the previous night's storm."
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.
Apodeictic, muliebrity, mansuetude, even caducity, caliginosity, nitid, agrestic, roborant or vilipend have Latin or Greek roots that are very familiar to me and most high school graduates.
From Time Magazine Archive
The arrogance of the vulgar, the—the uninstructed—perhaps I lack the mot juste, but quand même—the mansuetude of the loftier mind.
From The Highwayman by Bailey, H. C. (Henry Christopher)
While Barbara was swimming to meet the dawn, Miltoun was bathing in those waters of mansuetude and truth which roll from wall to wall in the British House of Commons.
From The Patrician by Galsworthy, John
The divine mansuetude, the human and brotherly sympathy of the Christ, have not been equalled since the early days of the Cristo della Moneta.
From The Later Works of Titian by Phillips, Claude
The system has no room for it; even as it has no room for clemency, mansuetude; forbearance towards the weak.
From From a Cornish Window A New Edition by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
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.
