comity

English

WOTD – 28 October 2026

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Proto-Italic *kom-
Proto-Indo-European *smey-der.
Proto-Italic *smis?
Proto-Italic *komsmis
Archaic Latin cosmis
Latin cōmis
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ts
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts
Proto-Italic *-tāts
Latin -tās
Latin cōmitāsder.
Middle English comite
English comity

    From Late Middle English comite (“association”), from Latin cōmitās.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    comity (countable and uncountable, plural comities)

    1. Courtesy and considerate behaviour towards others; social harmony.
      Antonyms: incomity, enmity, discord
      Coordinate term: unity (contrastable)
      Near-synonyms: amity, frith, accord
      • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus, published 2010, page 96:
        There, I saw not only flare-ups of ethnic animosity, but the comity that was also possible among men of different backgrounds.
      • 2025 October 4, Maureen Dowd, “When A.I. Came for Hollywood”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        The app [OpenAI's Sora] will further erode truth, and comity.
        (Can we archive this URL?)
      • 2026 February 16, Frank Bruni, “Pam Bondi and the MAGA Brand of Insult Politics”, in The New York Times‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        Comity and conciliation are a slog. They’re for suckers. Contempt is victors’ ready, heady prerogative.
        (Can we archive this URL?)
    2. Friendly understanding and mutual recognition between two entities, especially nations.
      Synonym: amity
      Antonyms: incomity, enmity, discord
      Coordinate term: unity (contrastable)
      Near-synonym: accord
      • 2007 January 5, Jonathan Weisman, “Democrats Take Control on Hill”, in The Washington Post‎[3], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        Democrats took control of the House and Senate after 12 years of nearly unbroken Republican rule, with resolute calls for bipartisan comity and a pledge to move quickly on an agenda of health care, homeland security, education and energy proposals.
        (Can we archive this URL?)

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Anagrams

    This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.