meek

[meek]

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adjective, meek·er, meek·est.

humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others.
overly submissive or compliant; spiritless; tame.
Obsolete. gentle; kind.

Origin of meek

1150–1200; Middle English meke, meoc < Old Norse mjūkr soft, mild, meek

Related formsmeek·ly, adverbmeek·ness, nouno·ver·meek, adjectiveo·ver·meek·ly, adverbo·ver·meek·ness, noun

Synonyms for meek

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1. forbearing; yielding; unassuming; pacific, calm, soft. See gentle.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for meekness

modesty, timidity, mildness, timidness, humility, docility

Examples from the Web for meekness

Contemporary Examples of meekness

Meekness is less than ever an attractive quality in American life.
Blood for Sale? Reagan’s Pagan Cult
Lee Siegel
May 26, 2012

Historical Examples of meekness

Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism
Joseph Stump
Though not a revengeful character, he had not that meekness which never resents.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
She speaks gently, but there is an obstinacy in him, despite his meekness.
Echoes of the War
J. M. Barrie
His anger changed to meekness, and his words were mild and fawning.
Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
Can he compass his spirit with meekness, and strangle a natural oath?
Farm Ballads
Will Carleton

British Dictionary definitions for meekness

meek

adjective

patient, long-suffering, or submissive in disposition or nature; humble
spineless or spiritless; compliant
an obsolete word for gentle

Derived Formsmeekly, adverbmeekness, noun

Word Origin for meek

C12: related to Old Norse mjūkr amenable; compare Welsh mwytho to soften

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for meekness

c.1200, meknesse; see meek (adj.) + -ness.

meek

adj.

c.1200, "gentle, quiet, unaggressive; benevolent, kind; courteous, humble, unassuming;" of a woman, "modest," from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse mjukr "soft, pliant, gentle"), from Proto-Germanic *meukaz (cf. Gothic muka-modei "humility," Dutch muik "soft"), of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *meug- "slippery, slimy." In the Bible, it translates Latin mansuetus from Vulgate (see mansuetude). Sense of "submissive" is from mid-14c.

meek

"those who are meek," c.1200, from meek (adj.).