conformity
(kənˈfɔːmɪtɪ)
[In 15th c. conformyte, -ite, a. F. conformité (14th c. Oresme) = Pr. conformitat, Sp. conformidad, It. conformità, all f. L. type *conformitāt-em, f. conformis: see conform and -ity. Formerly by confusion sometimes made into confirmity:
c 1532 Dewes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1046 To haue confirmite & agreyng. 1556 Abp. Parker Psalter cxi. 327 His workes of hands be seene all truth and equytye, And his precepts all faythfull be in iust confirmytye. 1557 in Lodge Illust. Brit. Hist. (1791) I. 253 Whose good confirmytie and forwardnes in service.]
1. Correspondence in form or manner; agreement in character; likeness, resemblance; congruity, harmony, accordance; exact correspondence to or with a pattern in some respect or matter.
| c 1430 tr. T. à Kempis' Consol. ii. xii, For loue of conformyte of þe crosse of crist. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xliv. (1887) 287 So..as there might be a conformitie betwene schoole and home. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 72 The Conformity of these Moons with our Moon. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 152 ¶9 With strict conformity to nature. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. i. 2 The letter, without being genuine, may exhibit marks of conformity with the history. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India III. vi. ii. 66 To know the conformity between the testimony and the facts. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. v. 443 The courts of the clergy were to fall into conformity with the secular tribunals. |
† b. (with a and pl.) A point of resemblance.
| a 1639 Wotton in Reliq. Wotton. (1672) 182 To take a summary view of their Conformities. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. iii. §25 To meet in many conformities. |
2. Action in accordance with some standard, e.g. with law, order, wishes, fashion; compliance, acquiescence.
| 1494 Fabyan vii. 537 That his grace myght see the conformyte of all his other subiectis. 1548 Order of Communion 2 With suche obedience and conformitie, to receiue this our ordinaunce. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. (1821) 510 The Province..was in so good conformity, as the civill Iustice..had as currant passage as in any of the former years of Peace. 1754 Richardson Grandison VI. liii. 339 We see what you can do: Your conformity is enough for me. 1851 Helps Friends in C. I. 32, I think your taking dress as an illustration of extreme conformity is not bad. |
b. (with a and pl.)
| 1566 Cecil in Strype Ann. Ref. I. xlviii. 520 Their diligence and conformities herein. 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such v. 105 Her well-bred conformities. |
c. to († unto) a specified standard.
| 1642 Declar. Lords & Com. in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1721) V. 45 The Priviledges of Parliament, which the Contrivers..profess all Conformity unto. 1658 Bramhall Consecr. Bps. vii. 154 Their Conformity to the Roman Religion. 1853 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xii. 141 It is not conformity to a creed that is here required, but aspiration after a state. 1868 Stanley Westm. Abb. ii. 86 Elizabeth's conformity to the ancient Ritual. |
3. spec. Conformity in worship, adherence to the form of religion legally established or publicly recognized; in Eng. Hist. compliance with the rites, discipline, and doctrine of the Church of England, as prescribed by the various Acts of Uniformity, particularly that of 1662.
occasional conformity: a phrase applied after 1700 to the practice of persons who, in order to qualify themselves for office, in accordance with the Corporation and Test Acts, received the Sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England, and afterwards during their office were present at any dissenting meeting for worship. Against this a bill, introduced in 1703, was passed in 1711.
| 1622 (title), Course of Conformitie. 1629 Petit. Conformist Clergy (MSS. St. Paper Office, Dom. Serv. Chas. I, cli. 45), I desire not to be released from conformitie. 1661 Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 76 The Act for universal Conformity will, within this day or two, be brought in. 1661–2 Pepys Diary 21 Mar., A proviso that my Lord Chancellor would have brought into the Bill for Conformity, that it shall be in the power of the King, when he sees fit, to dispense with the Act of Conformity. 1684 Otway Atheist i. i, I love Conformity, which is going to Church once a month, well enough. 1703 Sir H. Mackworth (title), Peace at Home; or a Vindication of the Proceedings of the House of Commons, on a Bill for preventing Danger from occasional Conformity. 1841 D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 423 During the short reign of Edward, conformity was not pressed. |
| attrib. 1711 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 269 A letter from a great presbyterian parson..complaining how their friends had betrayed them by passing this Conformity Bill. 1878 Lecky Eng. in 18th C. I. i. 37 Its attitude towards the Occasional Conformity Bill. |
† b. Conformists as a body. Obs.
| 1672 P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) 247 All or most of the Conformity have said, etc. |
† 4. Symmetry of formation, congruity of parts. Obs. rare.
| 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass iii. (1664) 41 Seeing in his Body so great Deformity, he..would have averred, that in his Soul there was no great Conformity. |
5. Phrases. a. in conformity with: in agreement, accordance, or harmony with; in compliance with.
| a 1568 Coverdale Let. to C. Hubert Wks. II. 508 In conformity with the mutual friendship which exists between us. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 289 These [tides]..in such exact conformity with the motions of the moon. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 113 The House ought, in conformity with ancient usage, to adjourn over the Easter holidays. 1883 Law Rep. 23 Chanc. Div. 730 In conformity with the above notice Rumney caused an appearance to be entered within eight days of service. |
b. in conformity to: according to (a standard, rule, or pattern), in obedience to, as required by, in compliance with. (Now less usual.)
| 1628 Bp. W. Bedell in Abp. Ussher's Lett. (1686) 402 A form [drawn]..in conformity to two instruments. 1651 Nicholas Papers (1886) I. 271 In conformity to the practise and example of my predecessors. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 84 The doing it in conformity to Gods command, as he hath supernaturally revealed himself. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 133 The wells and springs..rise and fall, in exact conformity to the waxing and waning of the moon. 1848 C. Brontë J. Eyre iv, Trained in conformity to her position and prospects. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life ii. iv. (1876) 69 In strict conformity to their own theories. |
6. Bill of Conformity (Law).
A bill which an executor or administrator, who finds the affairs of his testator or intestate so much involved that he cannot safely administer the estate, except under the direction of the Court of Chancery, files against the creditors generally, for the purpose of having all their claims adjusted and obtaining a final decree settling the order and payment of the assets. (Wharton Law Dict.)