clement

English

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin clēmēns (“merciful”). Equivalent to clīnō + participial suffix -menos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklɛmənt/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

clement (comparative more clement, superlative most clement)

1. Lenient or merciful; charitable.
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 393, column 2:

     I know you are more clement than vilde men, / Who of their broken Debtors take a third, / A ſixt, a tenth, letting them thriue againe / On their abatement; […]

   • 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter [HTTP://GUTENBERG.NET.AU/EBOOKS06/0608511H.HTML 18].”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:

     Your clement sentence they would account pusillanimous.

2. Mild (said of weather and similar circumstances).
   • 1984, Edna O'Brien, “The Bachelor”, in A Fanatic Heart, New York: Plume, page 66:

     The weather is clement, though there was a downpour yesterday and I was obliged to take precautions.

   • 1992, A. B. Yehoshua, translated by Hillel Halkin, Mr. Mani, New York: Doubleday, pages 314–5:

     The earth was still dry and the air was perfectly clement.

Synonyms

• lenient
• merciful
• mild

Antonyms

• inclement

Related terms

• clemency

Translations

References

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French clément, from Latin clemens.

Adjective

clement m or n (feminine singular clementă, masculine plural clemenți, feminine and neuter plural clemente)

1. clement

Declension