comply

What it means

1. To yield assent; to accord; to acquiesce, agree, consent; to adapt oneself, to conform.

   comply fully

   5 more examples

   comply with rules

   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.

   1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 83, lines 415–420

   Synonyms: give way, humor, accede, agree, allow, cave in, come around, come round · Antonyms: violate

2. archaicTo accomplish, to fulfil.First known use late 16th c.

   Gentle Abrahen, I / am griev'd my power cannot comply my promiſe: / my Father's ſo averſe from granting my / requeſt concerning thee, that with angrie frowns / he did expreſs rather a paſſionate rage, / then a refuſall civil, or accuſtom'd / to his indulgent diſpoſition.

   1654, attributed to George Chapman, now believed to be by Henry Glapthorne, Revenge for Honour. A Tragedie, London: Printed for Richard Marriot, […], →OCLC; republished London: Printed for Humphrey Moseley, […], 1659, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 22

   Synonyms: carry out, consummate

3. archaicTo be ceremoniously courteous; to make one's compliments.

   [Y]our hands come then, th’appurtenance of welcome is faſhion and ceremonie; let mee comply with you in this garb, let me^([sic – meaning lest my]) extent to the players, which I tell you muſt ſhowe fairely outwards, ſhould more appeare like entertainment than yours: […]

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

In a sentence

comply with rules

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-“to fill”
2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm“beside, near; by, with”
3. Latincomplēre
4. Old Frenchcompli
5. Spanishcumplir“to complete, fulfil”
6. Catalancomplir“to complete, fulfil; to carry out”
7. Italiancomplire
8. Englishcomply

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.

First known use: late 16th c.