Comply
verbTo act in accordance with a rule, request, command, or wish.
How to spell comply
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce comply
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does comply mean?
- verbTo act in accordance with a rule, request, command, or wish.
Comply in a sentence
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All staff must comply with the new safety regulations.
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The company agreed to comply with the auditor's request for records.
Where does comply come from?
Language of origin: Latin
Comply entered English in the late 1500s from the Italian complire and Spanish cumplir, both meaning 'to complete, fulfil, or accomplish'. These trace back to the Latin complere, 'to fill up' or 'to complete', built from com- 'altogether' and plere 'to fill'. In its earliest English use it carried a sense of being courteous or accommodating, doing what good manners required. Over time the meaning narrowed to its modern sense of acting in accordance with a rule, request, or wish. The same plere root gives us 'complete' and 'plenty', while the spelling trap lies in the silent shift to a -y ending that becomes -ies and -ied in other forms.
How the word is built
- com- (with, together)
- ply (to fold, bend)
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