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
- Making little or no noise; silent.
- Free of noise; hushed: a quiet street.
- Calm and still; free of turmoil or agitation.
- Gentle or reserved in manner.
- Not showy; restrained: quiet colours.
- Private or discreet: a quiet word.
Noun
- The state of being quiet; silence, calm or tranquillity.
Verb
- To make quiet; to calm.
- To become quiet, often with down.
- 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
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster