Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Complaisant; courteous; kind; yielding.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete Gentle; courteous; complaisant; yielding.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective obsolete gentle; courteous; complaisant; yielding

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • English marriage rites until the fourteenth century, when the wife promised to be "buxom" (which then meant submissive) and "bonair"

    Little Essays of Love and Virtue Havelock Ellis 1899

  • Reformation, the bride promised complaisance and obedience, in these terms: "I will be bonair and _buxom_ in bed and at board."

    The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 05 Miscellaneous Pieces Samuel Johnson 1746

  • Well, I was after some bonair, some salubrious, cobweb-clearing misma.

    Paula's House of Toast 2009

  • Here we find that the husband promises to love and cherish the wife, but she promises not only to love and cherish but also to obey him, though, it may be noted, this point was not introduced into English marriage rites until the fourteenth century, when the wife promised to be ` ` buxom '' (which then meant submissive) and ` ` bonair '' (courteous and kind), while in some French and Spanish rites it has never been introduced at all.

    On Life and Sex: Essays of Love and Virtue 1921

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