clement

¹

[ klem-uhnt ]

adjective

1. mild or merciful in disposition or character; lenient; compassionate:

   A clement judge reduced his sentence.

2. (of the weather) mild or temperate; pleasant.

Clement

²

[ klem-uhnt ]

noun

1. a male given name.

clement

/ ˈklɛmənt /

adjective

1. merciful
2. (of the weather) mild

Derived Forms

• ˈclemently, adverb

Other Words From

• clement·ly adverb
• over·clement adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of clement¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English either from Old French or directly from Latin clēment-, stem of clēmēns “gentle, merciful”

Word History and Origins

Origin of clement¹

C15: from Latin clēmēns mild; probably related to Greek klinein to lean

Example Sentences

Such worlds might resemble the large moons of our outer solar system and harbor potentially clement conditions beneath an icy crust.

From Scientific American

A planet’s atmosphere plays an even bigger role; if it’s loaded with greenhouse gases, then it needs to be farther out from the star to be clement.

From Scientific American

For those of us hoping to find more clement Earth-like worlds, that wasn’t very satisfying.

From Scientific American

The Hampden pitch bore the scars of Saturday's semi-final being played in horrible weather but Sunday's more clement conditions made for an engrossing tie.

From BBC

Billions of years ago, before it became a freeze-dried desert, the Red Planet was much more Earth-like, with liquid water and clement temperatures at its surface.

From Scientific American