Respectful

How to spell respectful

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce respectful

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does respectful mean?

1. adjectiveShowing consideration, courtesy, or regard for someone or something.

Respectful in a sentence

• The new employee was polite and respectful toward every client.

• Visitors are asked to keep a respectful silence inside the memorial hall.

Where does respectful come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the Latin verb respicere, meaning 'to look back at' or 'to regard', formed from the prefix re- ('back' or 'again') and specere ('to look'). In Latin the sense of literally turning to look back at someone shaded into the figurative idea of giving them attention and consideration, which is how the noun 'respect' came into English from Latin by way of Old French in the late medieval period. The adjective 'respectful' was then formed in English in the late sixteenth century by adding the native suffix -ful, meaning 'full of', so the word literally describes someone full of regard for others. The same spect root for looking turns up in a whole family of relatives such as 'inspect', 'spectacle' and 'spectator', a useful reminder that the middle of the word is spelled spect, not 'spec'. The single hurdle in spelling it is remembering that -ful as a suffix takes only one l, even though the standalone word 'full' has two.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• spect (look)
• -ful (full of)