supplenessn.
/ˈsʌplnəs/, U.S. /ˈsəpəlnəs/ The quality or condition of being supple (in various senses).
I. Physical senses.† 1. Ability to promote softness, pliancy, flexibility, or elasticity. Obsolete.
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1526 Grete Herball xxiiii. sig. H.iii.v/1 They [sc. chestnuts]..deuyded the humours that letteth the vryne by the souplenesse & moystnesse of the water that they be steped in.
1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull f. ciiii With the oyle of gladnes, that is to say: with the grace of the holye gooste, signified by the gentyll supplenes of oyle.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §610 And that (no doubt) is caused, by the Supplenesse and Gentlenesse of the Iuyce of that Plant, being that which maketh the Boughes also so Flexible.
2. Ability to bend or fold without breaking or cracking; capacity to be manipulated or moulded; flexibility or elasticity of composition.
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [noun]
pliantnessa1398
bowablenessc1475
limberness1565
bowingness1580
pliableness1581
suppleness1584
flexibility1616
pliancy1632
flexure1651
flexility1660
pliability1725
compliancy1793
facility1853
yieldiness1857
whippiness1881
bonelessness1928
1584 T. Chaloner Shorte Disc. Nitre f. 22v Alume..shal be founde not onely superfluous, but also rather harmefulll [sic], to the cloathes softnes and supplenes and finenes thereof.
1684 S. E. Answer Remarks upon Dr. H. More 208 Its suppleness and compliableness to cleave to that which is stronger.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 69 There is no part..in which the Subtility and Suppleness of the Sap more claim our Admiration, than in Trees that are grafted.
1782 J. Reynolds Disc. Royal Acad. (1876) xi. 29 That suppleness which is the characteristic of flesh.
1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. 134 The term scouring..is appied to this operation, by which it [sc. silk] acquires its suppleness and whiteness.
1813 Repository of Arts July 35/2 Strange it is, that a substance, apparently a stone, should be susceptible of softness, suppleness, pliancy.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. v. ii. 545 You have beaten Louis XIV. to the suppleness of washleather.
1889 F. M. Walbran Brit. Angler vi. 58 The rod that I like best is one which is a cross between the extreme suppleness of the Irish salmon rod, and the stiffness of a Scotch one.
1919 Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Industry 31 Oct. 373 t/1 There result, upon application of partial hydration (‘ripening’), esters of high viscosity and great strength, suppleness, and wearing qualities.
1971 New Scientist 10 June 630/2 They also retain far more of their flexibility and suppleness at low temperatures than do PVC-coated fabrics, which can feel stiff and uncomfortable on a cold day.
2010 M. Stoffel et al. Tree Rings & Nat. Hazards i. 10 The loss of the crown or branches is more common in bigger trees, where trunks have lost their suppleness.
3. Ability of the body, limbs, etc., to bend easily; ability of a person or animal to move easily, nimbly, or gracefully; flexibility of body or limb.In quot. 1636 corresponding to supple knee n. at supple adj. Compounds 1.
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the world > life > the body > loose or stiff condition > [noun]
starknessOE
lithenessa1464
mobility1528
leathwakeness1548
stiffness1552
supplement1583
suppleness1603
spring1641
limber1786
lubricity1809
limberness1835
lissomness1857
1603 S. Harsnett Declar. Popish Impostures v. 23 There be certain actions, motions, distorsions, dislocations, writhings, tumblings, and turbulent passions..not to be performed but by supplenesse of sinewes.
1636 W. Prynne Certaine Quæres (ed. 4) App. 34 This supplenesse of your knees, in bowing at the name of Iesus, is nothing but a mask to hide the straitnes and numbnesse of all the joynts of your heart and Soule in your submission.
1672 H. Oldenburg Let. 28 Nov. in Corr. (1973) IX. 340 To observe and describe ye particular dexterities and supplenesses of ye bodies of Turks, and any other thing, they excell in.
1713 A. Boyer tr. F. de S. de La Mothe-Fénelon Demonstr. Existence, Wisdom & Omnipotence of God xxxvii. 93 The Hands..have all the Strength and Suppleness necessary, to feel the Neighbouring Bodies.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. ii. xx. 47 Nature may have prepared one man for a dancer by giving him strength and suppleness in his joints.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 165 Serpents..have the length and the suppleness of the eel.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xiii. 115 Giving his right arm two or three flourishes to try its power and suppleness.
1893 A. S. Eccles Sciatica 80 Elderly persons from whom feats of suppleness could not be expected.
1910 G. T. M. Bridges tr. F. von Bernhardi Cavalry in War & Peace ii. 267 Continual riding on the bit alone would very soon have a harmful effect upon the horse's suppleness.
1952 M. Gilbert Death in Captivity xii. 182 We must therefore maintain bodily suppleness and agility by means of Muller's exercises before breakfast and a regular physical training class at least once a day.
2004 Prediction Apr. 66/1 Chavutti Thirumal massage..is known to be introduced by Kathakali dancers to promote suppleness.
II. Non-physical senses.
4.
a. Readiness to yield to persuasion or influence; obedience, compliance, now esp. in relation to God.
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society > authority > subjection > obedience > manageability > [noun] > compliancy
correspondence1530
suppleness?1570
pliantness1578
appliableness1587
correspondency1587
flexibleness1623
complacence1626
complacency1651
complaisance1651
pliancy1663
compliance1667
compliableness1684
flexibility1703
complaisancy1710
compliancy1765
pliability1768
?1570 T. Drant Two Serm. ii. sig. Iiij In the Hebrue toung a Bee hath her name of the order of her working, and..a Lambe for hauing soft woll, a Doue for supplenesse, a Horse for hynning and iolitie of his head, [etc.].
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1958) IX. 103 God findes a better disposition, and souplenesse, and maturity, and mellowing, to concurre with his motion in that man.
1671 A. Woodhead tr. Life St. Teresa i. xxv. 172 There never remains any sweetness, or softness, or suppleness in the Soul; but she is, as it were, frighted.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 189. ⁋11 A governess, whom misfortunes had reduced to suppleness and humility.
1790 Maid of Kent I. 109 The spirit of suppleness will make the marriage state enviable.
1823 E. Irving Of Judgment to Come i. in For Oracles of God 109 To be a statesman, you must submit the soul to suppleness, and be the creature of creatures like yourself.
1879 J. E. Hopkins Occup. for Sick ii. 21 That suppleness to the Master's Hand of a heart that has learned obedience through the things it has suffered.
1922 E. Underhill Life of Spirit & Life of Today iii. 94 Over against the self-assertion of the proud and angry is set the ideal of humble obedience, with its wise suppleness and abnegation of self-will.
1991 T. Cademartori tr. L.-M. Parent In Intimacy with Jesus ix. 58 No-one has the right to teach us a lesson or to make remarks about us. We easily snap our fingers at comments made about our availability, our submission, our suppleness.
b. Chiefly depreciative. Compliance from selfish or ulterior motives; artful or servile complaisance or obsequiousness.
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the mind > emotion > humility > servility > [noun]
fawninga1350
submission?a1439
overlowness1496
servility1573
servilenessa1594
obsequency1595
obsequiousness1613
cringing1617
slavishnessa1620
vernility1623
servulating1637
suppleness1638
sneakinga1657
subserviency1669
fawningness1672
subservience1680
cringingness1695
truckling1820
obsequience1830
flunkeyism1831
servilism1831
spanielship1832
toadyism1840
flunkeydom1850
oleaginousness1853
vassalism1854
toadying1863
grovel1892
obsequity1892
crawlsomeness1900
serfishness1906
oleosity?1920
ass-kissing1936
the mind > emotion > humility > servility > [noun] > servile agreement
assentation1481
suppleness1638
compliance1649
yessirring1928
1638 J. Hainhofer tr. Secretary of Ladies vii. 51 As there is no paint can make mee love deformity; so there is no supplenes, nor cunning can make me suffer scorne.
1683 J. Oldham Poems & Transl. 147 There's not a Courtier of them all shall vie For Fawning, and for Suppleness with me.
1738 Common Sense (1739) II. 143 The Falshood and Suppleness of a Courtier may be rendered perfectly consistent with the Justice and Spirit of a Judge.
1767 W. Harte Amaranth 185 He smooth'd his voice to the Bizántine note. With courtly suppleness un-furl'd his face.
1793 Lett. Impartial Observer ii. 3 The desire of self-importance is the pivot, upon which all human exertions turn; to this ruling passion, I trace, the patriot's zeal, the courtier's suppleness.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. iii. i. 222 Naturally dictatorial and presumptuous, his early suppleness to superiors was now exchanged for a self-willed pertinacity.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. i. ii. 31 He had none of the duplicity or of the suppleness which often marks the character of the courtier.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. v. xvi. 292 The ever-rising flood of Roman sensuality and Græco-Syrian suppleness.
1903 R. Garnett & E. Gosse Eng. Lit.: Illustr. Rec. II. i. 49 Raleigh, with the highest qualities of the soldier, the statesman, and the gentleman, incarnates the suppleness of the courtier and the unscrupulousness of the adventurer as well.
1958 S. Runciman Sicilian Vespers v. 66 Then, with a suppleness hardly consistent with his saintly reputation, he compromised.
2003 L. Frieda Catherine de Medici (2006) ii. xiii. 280 Henri was determined to survive and employed the same submission and suppleness which his Florentine mother-in-law had once had to do.
5. Flexibility of mind, quality, character, etc.; ability to adapt to or be used in various situations and circumstances; elasticity, versatility. Also: an instance of this.
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1593 G. Harvey New Let. Notable Contents sig. B3 Now he hath a little mused vpon the Funerall Teares of Mary Magdalen; and is egged-on to try the supplenesse of his Patheticall veine.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 160 Hee hath both the substance and the supplenesse, which are necessary in dealing with the braines of that country.
1665 R. Boyle Disc. iii. iii, in Occas. Refl. sig. D3v Bringing those that use to write their Thoughts, to what may be call'd a certain Suppleness of Style.
a1704 J. Locke Thoughts on Conduct of Understanding (1754) §19 Exercising the understanding..teacheth the mind suppleness.
1797 Monthly Rev. 1 Dec. 535 [The French language has] suppleness and energy.
1807 A. Knox Let. 28 Apr. in J. Jebb & A. Knox Thirty Years' Corr. (1834) I. 328 A certain suppleness in your mental powers, by virtue of which, they will bend to all occasions and subjects, with an ease and readiness [etc.].
1840 Fraser's Mag. Mar. 266/2 The prose of Milton..wanted suppleness, ease, and flexibility.
1895 19th Cent. Oct. 627 The historian needs a certain suppleness of intellect, a certain gift of universal sympathy.
1940 Manch. Guardian Weekly 15 Mar. 216 Whitehallese, which is slightly more correct [than business English]..but just as lacking in sense and suppleness.
2007 Independent 25 July 16/4 Fitting the facts to the political theory requires enormous suppleness and agility.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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