[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. trans. 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 civili 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 March. 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. 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.
c. 1568. Coverdale, Lett. 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.)
