▪ I. congee, ‖ congé, n.
(ˈkɒndʒiː, kɔ̃ʒe)
Forms: 4 congeye, 5–6 coungy, 5–7 congye, -ie, 6–7 congy, -ey, conge, (conjur-e), 7 conje, coniaye, 6–9 congee, 8–9 congé.
[ME. congye, congie, -eye, a. 12–14th c. OF. cungied, -et, conget, nom. congiez, congeé, 15th c. congié, mod.F. congé, Pr. comjat, conjat, Cat. comiat, (It. from OF., congedo):—L. commeāt-us ‘passage, leave to pass’, hence ‘leave of absence, furlough’, f. commeāre to go and come, pass, f. com- together + meāre to go, pass. From the 15th to 17th c. the word was completely naturalized, and bade fair to descend into modern Eng. as congy; but since the Restoration, old senses have become obsolete, and there has been a growing tendency to treat the word as French, either in the naturalized form congee (cf. grandee), or, more recently, in the alien form congé (now alone used in senses 4 and 6).]
I. † 1. Authoritative or formal leave or licence to depart, granted by one in authority; passport.
| 1475 Bk. Noblesse 30 And takethe theire congie and licence of theire prince, if they can have licence, or ellis they departethe bethout licence. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 99 We praye the that thou gyue vs lycence and congie for to departe. 1533 Bellenden Livy iii. (1822) 240 Ceso wes with thame..but ony congey or pasport to departe at the day assignit. 1584 W. Hareborne in Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 178 In case of their denial..we are to demand our Congie. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 445 Congees, safe conducts, pasports, sea-briefes. 1702 Vanbrugh False Friend i. i, I immediately got my congé and embark'd at Dunkirk. 1789 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) III. 17, I have not yet received my congé, though I hope to receive it soon. |
| fig. 1631 Massinger Beleeve as you list Epil., The end of epilogues is to inquire The conjure of the play, or to desire Pardon for what's amisse. |
† 2. Ceremonious dismissal and leave-taking.
| 1637 Heywood Royal King iv. Wks. 1874 VI. 60 No congie then, your Lordship must be gon. 1684 Scanderbeg Rediv. v. 130 On the 13th of November had his Audience of Congee of their Majesties, in Order to his Return home. 1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) III. 157 When the dear man made his congee, he took with him the better half of the widow's soul. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. iv. i. (1849) 145 Having made my congés to him for the night. |
† b. to take congee: to take leave (to go), take leave of. Also to give congee: to bid farewell. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 202 Clergye to conscience no congeye wolde take. 1494 Fabyan vi. clx. [They] toke coungy of father & mother, and retornyd agayne into Italy. 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. xi. 234, I take a solemne congee of this fustie world. 1639 G. Daniel Ecclus. xxxii. 41 Rise, and take Civill Congee, not the last. 1647 W. Browne Polex. ii. 113 Zabaim and Almanzaira..presently withdrew, giving congey to Polexander. 1831 Sir J. Sinclair Corr. II. 359 When you leave any town, send cards, p.p. Congé, to every body, as a proper mark of attention to those you have been obliged to. |
† c. fig. A dismissal, or farewell to an affair. Obs.
| 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 45 A Conge to all kinde of Playes. a 1734 North Exam. iii. vii. §85 (1740) 570 Here we take our Congee, as to all Affairs in Parliament. |
† d. Sc. Applied to a benefaction asked at departure, by mendicants; something given ‘to get quit of’ them. Obs.
| 1609 in Burt Lett. N. Scot. (1818) II. App. 243 Whatsoever person..be found..craving meat drink or other geir from the tenants..by way of Congie as they term it. |
3. A bow; originally at taking one's leave; afterwards also in salutation, at meeting, etc. arch.
| 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 100/2 There with a solemn congée she would bid her lord [‘the old Earle of Kildare’] good night. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, v. iv, With a lowly conge to the ground, The prowdest lords salute me as I passe. 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakluyt Soc.) 241 He made a slight conjur, and so turnd awaie. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iv. i. (1651) 524 Kiss it, and with a low congy deliver it unto me. a 1631 Drayton Triumph David, With coniayes all salute him. 1679 Bunyan Pilgr. i. (ed. 3; Hanserd-Kn. 120), As they came up with him, he [Mr. By-ends] made them a very low Conje [ed. 9, 1684 Congee], and they also gave him a Complement. a 1713 T. Ellwood Autobiog. 34 When they saw me..not moving my Cap, nor bowing my Knee in way of Congee to them; they were amazed. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) II. lxxi. 258 Saluting him with divers fashionable congees. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg., Auto-da-Fé, Here the noble Grandee made that sort of congee. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xiv, ‘It is an honour for me’, says my lord, with a profound congee. 1880 W. Cornw. Gloss., ‘Make your congees’ [con-geés: i.e. at parting]. |
| fig. a 1593 H. Smith Serm. Acts xxvi. 27 First, with a reverent title..Secondly, with a profitable question..Thirdly, with a favourable prevention..With these three congees he closes so with King Agrippa. |
4. Dismissal without ceremony. [From mod.F., and often humorous.]
| 1847 Ld. G. Bentinck in Croker Papers (1884) III. 157, I get my congé from the whipper-in. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair (1867) II. xiii. 145 Should she pay off old Briggs, and give her her congé? 1880 Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 51 This is my congé, I suppose. |
II. 5. Leave or permission (for any act).
| 1475 Caxton Jason 1 b, I intende by hys licence and congye..to presente thys sayde boke unto..my..yong lorde. 1550 J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Herald. iv. (1877) 58 Yet muse I why you requyred no conge. 1682 Warburton Hist. Guernsey (1822) 106 Obtain a conge or leave to do so from the lord of the fief. |
6. congé d'élire [AF. conge de eslire]: royal permission to a monastic body or cathedral chapter, to fill up a vacant see or abbacy by election.
Henry VIII. assumed by statute the right of adding thereto ‘Letters Missive’, nominating the person to be elected. In ordinary parlance the congé d'élire has been taken, but incorrectly, to include the nomination.
| [1351 Act 25 Edw. III, 4 A demander du Roi conge de eslir, & puis apres la eleccion daver son assent roial. 1534 Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 20 The kynge our soveran Lorde..may graunt unto..the Deane and Chapytour..a lycence..to procede to eleccion of an Archibishop or Bishop of the See soo beyng voyde, with a letter myssyve conteynyng the name of the persone whiche they shall electe and chose.] 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 201. 1641 R. Brooke Eng. Episc. 11. a 1695 Wood Life (1848) 200 Conge des Lire went to Canterbury to elect Dr. Sancroft archbishop. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 64 Making an election, like the king by a congê d'elire, in virtue of its royal prerogative. 1848 Chr. Remembrancer XV. 233 To put the Congé d'élire, whose very essence is freedom of Election, and the Letters Missive, the only notion of which is direct immediate nomination, into the same official envelope. |
| transf. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 475 ¶1 When she has made her own Choice [of a husband], for Form's sake she sends a Congé d'Elire to her Friends. |
▪ II. congee, n. and v.
Anglo-Ind.: see conjee.
▪ III. congee, congé, v. arch.
Forms: 4–7 conge, -ey, -ie, 4–5 congey-en, congei-e, 5 cungyn, 6 congye, 7 congy, 7–9 congee, congé.
[a. OF. congeer, congier, f. congié n.: cf. Pr. conjiar. (In 15th c. altered to congedier after It. congedare, f. OF.: see prec.) But some of the Eng. senses are directly taken from the n., of which the vb. has been treated as an immediate derivative. (Formerly stressed conˈgey, conˈgee.)]
† 1. trans. To give leave to go, dismiss. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 323 Þe þrid day com grete frape, & conged him away. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 479 That we shal here bleue, Til Sarpedoun wol forth congeyen [v.r. cunge] vs? 1393 Gower Conf. II. 238 Whan they to rest a while him preide, Out of his lond he them congeide. c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xlviii. (Gibbs MS.) 101 After þat he hadde congede þe other wymmen. 1557 Paynel Barclay's Jugurth B iij b, To congye and lycence such socours as were sente vnto him from other kynges. |
† 2. To give authoritative leave to; to license.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 259 By a statute of the universite of Oxenford whan eny man is i-congyed þere to commence in eny faculte. 1532 St. Papers Hen. VIII, II. 156 Beseching the Kinges Highnes of redres, or els to congye [printed congue], and licence my silf to seke my remedy. |
3. intr. To take ceremonious leave, pay one's respects at leaving; in mod. dial., to make one's retiring bow.
| 1601 Shakes. All's well iv. iii. 103, I haue congied with the Duke, done my adieu with his neerest. 1880 W. Cornw. Gloss., ‘We congeed [con-geéd] and parted’. |
4. To make a congee; to bow in courtesy or obeisance. Also fig.
| 1606 Choice, Chance & C. (1881) 27 An other would congey so low that his points had much adoe to holde. 1657 Reeve God's Plea 74 When he doth congee to the humours of the age, and make low leggs to the fancies of the times. 1660 Fuller Mixt Contempl. i. xxii, The other came cringing and congying. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xi, I do not like to see the Church and Synagogue kissing and congeeing in awkward postures of an affected civility. |
Hence congeeing vbl. n.
| 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 259 Apish toyes, as conging and kissing his hand. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 327 Congeeing, Curcheeing, Genuflexion. |