Etymology

docile

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Today it means: Ready to accept instruction or direction; obedient; subservient. Full definition →

Middle English docyle ← Middle French docile ← Latin docilis
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*deḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*doḱ-éye-ti
  3. Proto-Italic*dokejō
  4. Proto-Italic*dokeō
  5. Ancient Greekδιδάσκω (didáskō)
  6. Latindoceō
  7. Latindocilis
  8. Middle Frenchdocile
  9. Middle Englishdocyle
  10. English todaydocile

From Middle English docyle, from Middle French docile, from Latin docilis, from docēre (“teach”). Compare Portuguese dócil ("docile").

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.