docile

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 4, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>docile</strong> &#149; \DAH-sul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> easily taught</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> easily led or managed <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tractable">tractable</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The zoo has one <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bearded%20dragon">bearded dragon</a>, dubbed Six because that number was painted on its back when it arrived…. Six is not on public exhibit but because it's friendly and <em>docile</em>, the bearded dragon is an ambassador in the zoo's Wild Connections animal encounter program." — <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/02/20/milwaukee-county-zoos-kookaburra-and-other-species-native-australia-lucky/4808979002/">Meg Jones, <em>The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</em>, 20 Feb. 2020</a></p> <p>"I hate the idea that we have to be polite as women, or we have to be <em>docile</em>. It's good to be kind, of course, but that we have to be agreeable, and if we're anything else we're labeled difficult." — <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a32789587/elisabeth-moss-shirley-interview/">Elisabeth Moss, quoted in <em>Elle</em>, 8 July 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Docile students can make teaching a lot easier. Nowadays, calling students "docile" indicates they aren't trouble-makers; however, there's more than just good behavior connecting docility to teachability. The original meaning of <em>docile</em> is more to the point: "readily absorbing something taught." "The docile mind may soon thy precepts know," rendered Ben Jonson, for example, in a 17th-century translation of the Roman poet Horace. <em>Docile</em> comes from Latin <em>docēre</em>, which means "to teach." Other descenda