compliance
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Pronunciation
- IPA: /kəmˈplaɪ.əns/[1]
Etymology
It is formed from comply and -ance.[2][3][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Civility, complaisance: 1641 in the OED, the 1640s in Etymonline;[5][2] MWU dates it to about 1630.[3]
Semantic evolution
In the 17th century it meant agreement or concord (1647) and agreement in nature (1649), senses now obsolete.[5] Deferential or servile agreement with a person is from 1648.[5] Acting in accordance with a request, condition or rule is from 1647,[5] the main modern sense,[6] and in a bad sense, unworthy submission, from 1665.[5] In physics, the ability of a material to bend under force, the opposite of stiffness, is a later technical sense.[7]
Timeline
- c. 1630 – first use (MWU).[3]
- 1641 – civility (obsolete).[5]
- 1647 – acting in accordance with a rule.[5]
- 1648 – deferential agreement.[5]
Modern meaning
Noun
- The act of obeying a rule, request or order.
- Conformity with legal and regulatory requirements: compliance with safety standards.
- Willingness to yield to others; submission.
Word family
- overcompliance
Related words
- compliant
- comply
- complaisance
- non-compliance
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins