mansuetude

man•sue•tude (MAN-swi-tood)  n

Definition:
the quality or state of being gentle : meekness, tameness

Origin:
1350–1400; from L. mansuetudo "tameness," from mansuetus, pp. of mansuescere "to tame," lit. "to accustom to the hand," from manus "hand" + suescere "to accustom, habituate," from PIE *swdh-sko-, from base *s(w)e-

Related:
Synonyms: meekness, tameness
Related Words: desuetude, mastiff; manuscript, manage, manual, et al

Sentence Examples:
• Although the pose and treatment of the head are practically identical with that in the Berlin picture, the conception seems a less dramatic one. It includes, unless the writer has misread it, an element of greater mansuetude and a less perturbed reflectiveness. -The Later works of Titian, Claude Phillips

• Chastity, for instance, which is, together with mansuetude, the especial Christian virtue, becomes in this fashion that mere guarding of virginity which, for some occult reason, is highly prized in Heaven; as to clean living being indispensable for bearable human relations, which even the unascetic ancients recognised so clearly, there is never an inkling of that. -Renaissance Fancies and Studies, Violet Paget (AKA Vernon Lee)

• But the moment of softening and mansuetude slipped quickly by, and was succeeded by a burst of anger; for Mr. Tapster suddenly became aware that Flossy's left hand, the little thin hand resting on the back of the chair, was holding two keys which he recognized at once as his property.  -McClure's Magazine, June 1908


Sources: Merriam-Webster, Online Etymology

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