Meek

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /miːk/

Definitions

1. Gentle, humble, and patient in temperament, showing restraint and submission rather than aggression or defiance
2. Characterized by a gentle nature and a lack of assertiveness, showing humility and patience instead of aggression or resistance
3. Exhibiting a mild demeanor that favors submission and humility, while refraining from hostility or confrontation

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "meek" is that its original sense was closer to "soft" or "supple" than to any notion of humility. The Old Norse "mjúkr" meant soft, and English seems to have borrowed it in the Middle Ages, where it carried the physical idea of something yielding to the touch. The same root gave Swedish "mjuk" and Norwegian "myk", both still meaning soft today. The idea of giving way physically gradually shifted toward giving way in temperament. A soft, pliable thing bends rather than resists, and that bending came to describe a person who does not push back. The moral sense of gentle patience developed from there, so the word's modern virtue is a metaphor drawn from the feel of something that yields under pressure. The root also reaches further than the Norse languages. Old English "smēag", meaning subtle or stealthy, is a related form, and the family extends to Latin "ēmungō", "to blow one's nose", and to Lithuanian "mùkti", "to slip away from", which suggest the original sense of slipping or yielding.

Synonyms: humble, submissive, gentle

Antonyms: bold, assertive, aggressive