meek - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Middle English meek, meke, meoc, probably a borrowing from Old Norse mjúkr (“soft; meek”), from Proto-Germanic *meukaz, *mūkaz (“soft; supple”), from Proto-Indo-European *mewg-, *mewk- (“slick, slippery; to slip”); compare Old English smēag (“subtle, stealthy, etc.”) and smūgan.
Cognate with Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk mjuk (“soft”), Norwegian Bokmål myk (“soft”), and Danish myg (“supple”), Dutch muik (“soft, overripe”), dialectal German mauch (“dry and decayed, rotten”), Mauche (“malanders”). Compare as well Welsh mwyth (“soft, weak”), Latin ēmungō (“to blow one's nose”), Tocharian A muk- (“to let go, give up”), Lithuanian mùkti (“to slip away from”), Ancient Greek μύσσομαι (mússomai, “to blow the nose”), Sanskrit मु॒ञ्चति॑ (muñcáti, “to release, let loose”).
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /miːk/
- (General American) IPA(key): /mik/
- Rhymes: -iːk
meek (comparative meeker, superlative meekest)
- Humble, non-boastful, modest, meager, or self-effacing.
Synonyms: abased, demure, verecund; see also Thesaurus:humble - Submissive, dispirited, cowed.
Synonyms: compliant, passive; abject, servile; see also Thesaurus:docile, Thesaurus:servile
humble, modest, or self-effacing
- Bulgarian: мек (bg) (mek), кротък (bg) (krotǎk)
- Czech: skromný (cs), mírný (cs), pokorný (cs)
- Danish: ydmyg, sagtmodig
- Dutch: gedwee (nl), zachtmoedig (nl)
- Finnish: nöyrä (fi), vaatimaton (fi)
- French: humble (fr), modeste (fr)
- Galician: modesto
- German: sanftmütig, bescheiden (de), zaghaft (de), zurückhaltend (de), fromm (de), demütig (de), sanft (de), hold (de), lammfromm (de), moderat (de)
- Greek: ταπεινός (el) (tapeinós), σεμνός (el) (semnós), πράος (el) (práos)
Ancient Greek: πρᾶος (prâos) - Hungarian: szerény (hu)
- Indonesian: rendah hati (id)
- Italian: modesto (it), timido (it), introverso (it), schivo (it), pavido (it)
- Macedonian: кроток (krotok)
- Māori: māhaki, haki
- Norwegian: blyg
Bokmål: ydmyk (no), saktmodig (no) - Old Church Slavonic: кротъкъ (krotŭkŭ)
- Persian: فروتن (fa) (forutan)
- Polish: cichy (pl) (biblical), pokorny (pl), arcyskromny (pl)
- Portuguese: modesto (pt)
- Romanian: umil (ro), modest (ro)
- Russian: кро́ткий (ru) (krótkij), мягкий (ru) (mjaxkij)
- Scottish Gaelic: macanta
- Spanish: modesto (es)
- Swedish: ödmjuk (sv)
submissive, dispirited — see also wimpy
- Asturian: mansu (ast)
- Bulgarian: смирен (bg) (smiren), покорен (bg) (pokoren)
- Czech: poddajný (cs), pokorný (cs), mírný (cs), tichý (cs)
- Finnish: alistuva (fi)
- French: soumis (fr) m, faible (fr)
- Galician: manso, dondo, submiso
- German: unterwürfig, kleinlaut (de), widerstandslos (de), duldsam (de), ergeben (de), gottergeben (de)
- Greek: πειθήνιος (el) (peithínios)
- Hungarian: alázatos (hu), beletörődő (hu)
- Italian: rassegnato (it), remissivo (it), sommesso (it)
- Persian: سربهزیر (sar-be-zir)
- Polish: arcyskromny (pl)
- Portuguese: submisso (pt), manso (pt)
- Romanian: supus (ro)
- Russian: безро́потный (ru) (bezrópotnyj), поко́рный (ru) (pokórnyj)
- Spanish: humilde (es), resignado (es), sumiso (es), manso (es)
- Swedish: undergiven (sv)
meek (third-person singular simple present meeks, present participle meeking, simple past and past participle meeked)