to coax; to sweet-talk (persuade gradually) · to cajole · to humour (person)
çekim: geçmiş amadoué · ortaç amadoué · şimdiki amadoue · ulaç amadouant
köken: Inherited from Middle French amadouer (“to coax, lure”), from a- + *madouer (“to lure, give food to”), from Old Norse mata (“to lure, feed”), from Proto-Germanic *matōną, *matjaną (“to feed, eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“wet”). Cognate with Icelandic mata (“to bait, allure”), Danish made (“to feed”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (matjan, “to eat, have a meal”), Old English mete (“food”). More at…
çekim: geçmiş льсти́вший · ortaç льсти́вший · şimdiki льсти́т · ulaç льстя́щий
köken: Inherited from Old East Slavic льстити (lĭstiti) (also лестити (lestiti)), from Proto-Slavic *lьstiti, derived as if from *lьstь (whence лесть (lestʹ)) + -ить (-itʹ).
to fawn, to curry favour (UK), to curry favor (US), to suck up, to toady, to wheedle (to seek favour by flattery and obsequious behaviour) · to show affection
çekim: geçmiş підле́щувавшись · şimdiki підле́щується
köken: From підле́щувати (pidléščuvaty) + -ся (-sja).
to blandish, fawn, flatter, butter up (to praise someone dishonestly)
çekim: geçmiş hízelegtek
köken: From hízelkedik (“to flatter someone”) + -leg (frequentative verb-forming suffix), from an otherwise unattested stem + -lkedik. Created during the Hungarian language reform, which took place in the 18th–19th centuries.
köken: Verbal derivation from מַחְמָאָה (makhma'á), itself derived from Psalms he:T:22, with translation of the New American Standard Bible: "His speech was smoother than butter, But his heart was war".
to fawn upon · to flatter or court · to make obeisance to
çekim: ortaç adūlātus · şimdiki adūlātur · ulaç adūlāns
köken: The first component is evidently ad- (“to, toward”); the second one, however, has an obscure origin. It has been conjectured to come from an unattested *ūlos (“tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“hair; wool”), whence English wool (via Proto-Germanic) and velvet (via a Latin diminutive). Compare Lithuanian valai (“horsetail hair”) and Sanskrit वाल (vā́la, “tail of an animal; tail hair;…