English
souple
Souple comes from French souple ‘supple’, from Latin supplicō ‘to pray, beseech’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-1‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō1‘fold, bend, roll up’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplicō2‘to pray, beseech’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplex3‘suppliant’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsouple4‘supple’
- Englishtodaysouple4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin supplico
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin supplex
- 3 Wiktionary, French souple
- 4 Wiktionary, English souple
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-Wiktionary, Latin supplico‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōWiktionary, Latin supplico‘fold, bend, roll up’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplicōWiktionary, Latin supplex‘to pray, beseech’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplexWiktionary, French souple‘suppliant’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsoupleWiktionary, English souple‘supple’
- EnglishtodaysoupleWiktionary, English souple
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
complex, fiasco, replication, flax, flack, plexus, flagon, 32 more
through Latin plicō ‘fold, bend, roll up’
apply, display, employment, reply, explicit, employ, exploitation, exploit, imply, deploy, replica, implicit, complication, complicate, accomplice, ploy, complicity, inexplicable, ply, implicate, pliable, triplicate, explication, pliant, splay, 20 more
through Latin supplicō ‘to pray, beseech’
through Latin supplex ‘suppliant’
Another origin of souple
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swaipaną‘to sweep’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swaipijaną‘to sweep’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swaipijan‘to sweep’next step skipped: Old English swipian
- Anglian Old Englishmodern*swēpanreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swepen‘to sweep (something)’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500swepels
- Middle Scotsmodernsowpill
- Englishtodaysouple
Today it means
adj Of raw silk: deprived of its silk-glue.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “souple”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin supplico, Latin supplex, French souple. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / souple