Etymology From late Middle English congie, from Old French congié, congiet (modern French congé), from Latin commeātus (“passage, permission to leave”), from commeō (“to go and come”), from con- + meō (“to go, to pass”). Figurative senses generally borrowed from developments in French congé.
1
Leave, formal permission for some action, (originally and particularly)
Obsolete Formal dismissal; (figurative) any dismissal; (originally & particularly humorously ironic) abrupt dismissal without ceremony.
So courteous conge both did giue and take, With right hands plighted, pledges of good will.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
4
Obsolete Formal leavetaking; (figurative) any farewell.
5
Scotland, Obsolete A fee paid to make another go away, (particularly) alms to a persistent beggar.
6
Archaic A bow, curtsey, or other gesture (originally) made at departure but (later) including at greeting or in obeissance or respect.
As salutations, reverences, or conges, by which some doe often purchase the honour, (but wrongfully) to be humble, lowly, and courteous[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
… I therefore, at this time, shall only add this advice to you, under and by the leave of my lord;’ (and with that he made Diabolus a very low congee;) …1682, John Bunyan, The Holy War:
3 more examples
So saying, he bowed with a thousand apish congês, and presented his paper to Peregrine […].1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 96, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume IV, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
“My daughter Rebecca, so please your Grace,” answered Isaac, with a low congee, nothing embarrassed by the Prince’s salutation, in which, however, there was at least as much mockery as courtesy.1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
His speech thus spake the Moor, and took his leave, he and his meiny where the bátels lay: formal farewells to chief and crews he gave, exchanging congees with due courtesy.1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume I, page 23:
Derived terms
give congee, take congee
congee
verb
Etymology From late Middle English congie, from Old French congié, congiet (modern French congé), from Latin commeātus (“passage, permission to leave”), from commeō (“to go and come”), from con- + meō (“to go, to pass”). Figurative senses generally borrowed from developments in French congé.
› To give congee, (particularly)
1
Archaic, Obsolete To give formal permission to leave; to dismiss.
2
Archaic, Obsolete To give formal permission to do something; to license.
Archaic To make a congee: to bow, curtsey, etc., (particularly dialectal) while leaving; (figuratively) to make obeissance, show respect, or defer to someone or something.
congee
noun
Etymology From Tamil கஞ்சி (kañci) or another Dravidian language such as Malayalam കഞ്ഞി (kaññi) (ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *kañci), possibly via Portuguese canje.
1
Usually A type of thick rice porridge or soup, sometimes prepared with vegetables and/or meat.
In a past life in Fuzhou, it represented some reality other than the one of daily congee and pickled turnips, cabbage and boiled rip soup.2022, Ling Ma, “Peking Duck”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN: