Clement

//ˈklɛmənt// adj, name

adj, name ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Lenient or merciful; charitable.

    "I know you are more clement than vilde^([sic – meaning vile]) men, / Who of their broken Debtors take a third, / A ſixt, a tenth, letting them thriue againe / On their abatement; […]"

  2. 2
    Mild (said of weather and similar circumstances).

    "The weather is clement, though there was a downpour yesterday and I was obliged to take precautions."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (used of persons or behavior) inclined to show mercy wordnet
  2. 2
    (of weather or climate) physically mild wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A male given name from Latin, borne by an early pope and by several saints. countable, uncountable

    "And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life."

  2. 2
    A surname. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A placename:; A township in Gladwin County, Michigan, United States. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A placename:; An unincorporated community in Jackson Township, Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
lenientacceptingbalmybenevolentbenignbenignant

Example

More examples

"Though autumn gales are less clement than summer zephyrs, they are more exciting."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Old French, from Latin clēmēns (“merciful”). Equivalent to clīnō + participial suffix -menos.

Etymology 2

From Late Latin Clēmens (genitive Clēmentis), name of early saints and popes, from clēmens (“merciful”). Doublet of Clemens and San Clemente.

Related phrases

St ClementSt. ClementsTerrington St Clement

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.