complacence
com-pla-cence / kəm-plā-səns
noun 1. satisfaction, particularly self satisfaction Often would self-complacence spread Harmonious halos round my head; And all my being own'd awhile The warm diffusion of her smile. From "The Lay Of Marie” by Matilda Betham, 1776 - 1852 2. lack of care or concern The enrichment of Colonel Byrd, even by ways that were devious, was viewed with complacence by his neighbors so long as it harmed them not. From "Beginnings of the American People" by Carl Lotus Becker, 1873 - 1945 etymology From the present active participle of the Latin verb complaceo, complacere, complacui, complacitus (to be pleasing at the same time, to please greatly). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ complaisance com-plai-sance / kəm-plā-səns noun 1. tendency to please or submit Complaisance renders a superior amiable, an equal agreeable, and an inferior acceptable. Joseph Addison, 1672 - 1719 etymology Taken over into English from French and derived from the same Latin root as "complacence." Thank you to Allen Ward for furnishing the etymologies for complacence and complaisance.