comply
/kəmˈplaɪ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.04 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "comply with rules"
- "comply fully"
- "failure to comply"
- "All workers must comply with safety regulations."
- "He refused to comply with their demands."
- "Maſters commands come with a power reſiſtleſs / To ſuch as owe them abſolute ſubjection; / And for a life who will not change his purpoſe? / (So mutable are all the ways of men) / Yet this be ſure, in nothing to comply / Scandalous or forbidden in our Law."
Etymology
From Italian complire, Catalan complir (“to complete, fulfil; to carry out”), Spanish cumplir (“to complete, fulfil”), (alternatively from Old French compli), from Latin complēre, from compleō (“to finish, complete; to fulfil”), from com- (prefix indicating completeness of an act) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, near; by, with”)) + pleō (“to fill; to fulfil”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)). The word is very close to the French verb complaire which means to satisfy or to please. The word is also cognate with Old French complir (“to accomplish, complete; to do”) (modern French accomplir (“to accomplish, achieve”)). Compare complete, compliment.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *pleh₁-, complire, complir, cumplir, compli, complēre
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kəmˈplaɪ/
- British English: /kəmˈplaɪ/