Standard Lemma guide

docility

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: D AA0 S IH1 L AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality of being docile.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Couldn't docility from totalitarian indoctrination be a human shortcoming?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the trait of being agreeably submissive and manageable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: tractability, tractableness, flexibility

History

Etymology

From Middle French docilité, from Latin docilitas.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: docilitat — the quality of being docile
  • French: docilité — the quality of being docile
  • Galician: docilidade — the quality of being docile
  • German: Gelehrigkeit — the quality of being docile
  • Italian: docilità — the quality of being docile
  • Japanese: 従順 (jūjun) — the quality of being docile
  • Latin: docilitas — the quality of being docile
  • Occitan: docilitat — the quality of being docile
  • Portuguese: docilidade — the quality of being docile
  • Romanian: docilitate — the quality of being docile
  • Serbo-Croatian: docilnost — the quality of being docile
  • Spanish: docilidad — the quality of being docile
  • Swedish: foglighet — the quality of being docile
  • Turkish: uysallık — the quality of being docile
  • Turkish: yumuşak başlılık — the quality of being docile