'docile' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'docilis', where the root 'docēre' meant 'to teach'.

'docile' changed from Latin 'docilis' into Old French and then into Middle English as 'docile', and the modern adverb 'docilely' was formed by adding the English suffix '-ly' to the adjective.

Initially it meant 'easy to teach' or 'capable of being taught', and over time it evolved into the current sense of 'readily taught, obedient, or submissive'.