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Webster 1913 Edition

Meek

Meek

(mēk)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Meeker
(mēk′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Meekest
.]
[OE.
mek
,
meoc
; akin to Icel.
mjūkr
mild, soft, Sw.
mjuk
, Dan.
myg
, D.
muik
, Goth.
muka
mōdei gentleness.]
1.
Mild of temper; not easily provoked or orritated; patient under injuries; not vain, or haughty, or resentful; forbearing; submissive.
Now the man Moses was very
meek
.
Num. xii. 3.
2.
Evincing mildness of temper, or patience; characterized by mildness or patience;
as, a
meek
answer; a
meek
face.
“Her meek prayer.”
Chaucer.
Syn. – Gentle; mild; soft; yielding; pacific; unassuming; humble. See
Gentle
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Meek

MEEK

,
Adj.
[L. mucus; Eng. mucilage; Heb. to melt.]
1.
Mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; yielding; given to forbearance under injuries.
Now the man Moses was very meek, above all men. Num.12.
2.
Appropriately,humble, in an evangelical sense; submissive to the divine will; not proud, self-sufficient or refractory; not peevish and apt to complain of divine dispensations. Christ says, 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.' Matt.11.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matt.5.

Definition 2024

meek

meek

English

Adjective

meek ‎(comparative meeker, superlative meekest)

  1. Humble, modest, meager, or self-effacing.
    • 1848: Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son
      Mrs. Wickam was a meek woman...who was always ready to pity herself, or to be pitied, or to pity anybody else...
    • "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5)
  2. Submissive, dispirited.
    • 1920: Sinclair Lewis, Main Street
      What if they were wolves instead of lambs? They'd eat her all the sooner if she was meek to them. Fight or be eaten.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:humble

Translations

Verb

meek ‎(third-person singular simple present meeks, present participle meeking, simple past and past participle meeked)

  1. (US) (of horses) To tame; to break.

Translations


Etymology

From Middle English meek, meke, meoc, from Old Norse mjúkr 'soft' (compare Swedish mjuk 'soft', and Danish myg 'supple'), from Proto-Germanic *mūkaz (compare Dutch muik 'soft, overripe', dialectal German mauch 'dry and decayed, rotten', Mauche 'malanders'), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meug, *meuk- 'slick, slippery; to slip' (compare Old English smūgan 'to slide, slip', Welsh mwyth 'soft, weak', Latin emungere 'to blow one's nose', Tocharian A muk 'to let go, give up', Lithuanian mùkti 'to slip away from', Old Church Slavonic mŭčati 'to chase', Ancient Greek myssesthai 'to blow the nose', Sanskrit muñcati 'he releases, lets loose').

Pronunciation

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