plight [OE] In the traditional marriage ceremony the bride and groom each say ‘I plight thee my troth’, meaning ‘I pledge my word’. Plight means ‘to promise solemnly’, and pledge [ME] is probably a distant relative. Troth is an old variant of *truth, meaning ‘giving your word’ and still preserved in betroth [ME]. The other meaning of plight, ‘a predicament’, is from Old French plit ‘fold’, suggesting the idea of a difficult or complicated situation. Other words from plit include Middle English pliant [LME] literally ‘foldable’; and pliable [LME]; pliers [M16th] tools for bending things; and ply [LME] in the sense of ‘thickness’ as in plywood [E20th]. (The other ply as in ply with drink, is simply a shortening of apply, see appliance.) Pleat and plait [both ME] are further relatives. Compliant [M17th] looks as if it should be a relative, but its immediate source, to comply [L16th], originally came from Latin complere ‘to fulfil, accomplish’, although compliant later developed senses influenced by its similarity to pliant.