docile

English

WOTD – 11 February 2007

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French docile, from Latin docilis, from docere (“teach”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdəʊ.sail/
• IPA^(key): /ˈdɑː.səl/, /ˈdɑː.saɪl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Adjective

docile (comparative more docile, superlative most docile)

1. Ready to accept instruction or direction; obedient; subservient.
2. Yielding to control or supervision, direction, or management.

Synonyms

• (yielding to control): compliant, malleable, meek, submissive, tractable, manageable
• (ready to accept instruction): amenable, compliant, teachable

Antonyms

• (yielding to control): perverse, defiant, rebellious, wilful

Derived terms

• docilely
• docility

Related terms

• docent
• doctor
• doctorate
• doctrinaire
• doctrinal
• doctrine
• document
• indoctrinate

Translations

yielding to control

• Bulgarian: податлив (bg) (podatliv), послушен (bg) (poslušen)
• Catalan: dòcil (ca)
• Crimean Tatar: yuvaş
• Czech: poslušný m, poddajný (cs) m
• Dutch: volgzaam (nl)
• Finnish: säyseä (fi)
• French: docile (fr)
• German: fügsam (de), gefügig (de), steuerbar (de), handhabbar, sanftmütig, gutmütig (de), unterwürfig
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: κτίλος (ktílos)

• Hungarian: kezelhető (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: docile (it), mansueto (it)
• Japanese: 従順な (ja) (jūjun na), おとなしい (ja) (otonashii)
• Kurdish:
• Maori: kōratarata, kōtungatunga
• Polish: potulny (pl), uległy (pl)
• Portuguese: dócil (pt)
• Romanian: docil (ro)
• Russian: покорный (ru) (pokornyj), послу́шный (ru) (poslúšnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: soirbh, sèimh
• Serbo-Croatian: pokoran (sh) m, poslušan (sh)
• Spanish: dócil (es)
• Swedish: foglig (sv)
• Turkish: yumuşak başlı (tr), uysal (tr)

accepting instructions

• Bulgarian: схватлив (bg) (shvatliv), възприемчив (bg) (vǎzpriemčiv)
• Catalan: dòcil (ca)
• German: fügsam (de), gefügig (de), gehorsam (de), folgsam (de), gelehrig
• Hungarian: irányítható
• Polish: pojętny (pl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: поня́тливый (ru) (ponjátlivyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: poslušan (sh) m, poučljiv (sh)
• Spanish: dócil (es)
• Swedish: lydig (sv), foglig (sv)
• Turkish: uysal (tr), uslu (tr)

Anagrams

• cleido-, coiled, coldie

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin docilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔ.sil/

• audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -il

Adjective

docile (plural dociles)

1. docile.

Further reading

• “docile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin docilis.

Adjective

1. compliant, obedient, mild
2. docile, meek

Antonyms

• indocile

Derived terms

• docilità
• docilmente

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Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) docile

1. nominative neuter singular of docilis
2. accusative neuter singular of docilis
3. vocative neuter singular of docilis