quiet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkwaɪ.ət/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English quiet,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman quiete, Old French quieté “rest, repose, tranquillity”,^[3][4][5] and directly from Latin quiēs (“a lying still, rest, repose, peace”) (genitive quiētis).^[3][2] The adjective is from Old French quiet and directly from quiētus (“calm, at rest”),^[3][2] the past participle of quiēscere (“to come to rest”).^[2][6] The Latin words are from Proto-Indo-European *kweie- (“to rest, be quiet”),^[3][6] the source also of Old English hwīl “space of time”, modern while.^[7][2] The verb, before 1398, is from the adjective and in part from Late Latin quiētāre “to calm, set free”.^[2][3][8] Quiet is a doublet of coy and quit.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, “calmness, rest, stillness”, freedom from disturbance or conflict: probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin,^[2] about 1300 in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

“Inactivity, repose” is from the late 14th century, and “absence of noise” from about 1400.^[3] The adjective first meant “peaceable, at rest, tranquil, not moving”, from before 1382 in the Wycliffe Bible;^[2][3] “not turbulent” is from the 1510s, “private, secret” from the 1570s, and “making no noise” by the 1590s.^[3] Of colours and dress, “not showy, restrained”, it is from 1560.^[9] The verb first meant to subdue a sensation or lessen a pain, in the late 14th century;^[3] “to make quiet” is from the mid-15th century, and the intransitive “to become quiet” is first recorded in Thomas Paine's Rights of Man (1791),^[3][2] with down by 1851.^[3] The adverb is from 1573,^[2][10] and quietude from 1597.^[2] A quiet American, often a United States undercover agent, comes from the title of Graham Greene's 1955 novel.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – noun, calm, rest.^[3][2]
• a. 1382 – adjective, at rest.^[2]
• c. 1400 – absence of noise.^[3]
• 1560 – not showy.^[9]
• 1573 – adverb.^[2][10]
• 1590s – making no noise.^[3]
• 1791 – verb, to become quiet.^[3][2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Making little or no noise; silent.
2. Free of noise; hushed: a quiet street.
3. Calm and still; free of turmoil or agitation.
4. Gentle or reserved in manner.
5. Not showy; restrained: quiet colours.
6. Private or discreet: a quiet word.

Noun

1. The state of being quiet; silence, calm or tranquillity.

Verb

1. To make quiet; to calm.
2. To become quiet, often with down.
3. In law, to make a title secure by freeing it from all challenges.

Word family

• quietly
• quietness
• quieter
• quieten
• overquiet

Related words

• acquiesce
• disquiet
• inquietude
• quiescence
• quiescent
• quietism
• quietude
• requiem
• unquiet
• quietus
• quit
• coy
• tranquil
• while

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster