tranquil

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tranquill,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin tranquillus (“quiet, calm, still”),^{[5][2][6][3][7][8]} perhaps also borrowed from Middle French tranquille, recorded in French from 1470.^{[5][9][10][11][4]} The Anglo-Norman tranquille, tranquil, peaceful, is recorded from the mid-12th century.^[12] Barnhart thinks the English word probably a back-formation from the earlier tranquillity, modelled on the Latin, with the French word borrowed in some later uses,^[4] and Etymonline also allows a back-formation.^[7] The origin of the Latin adjective is uncertain.^[4] Klein explains it as *trāns-quil-nos, "very quiet", from trāns (“across, through”), used in the sense of "very", and the root of quiēs (“rest, quiet”), the source of quiet;^[13][4] Weekley also connects it with quiēs,^[14] and the American Heritage Dictionary refers it to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *kweiə-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the face, calm and still: a Middle English text of before 1450 describes eyes, forehead, brows and lids that are "in rest and tranquill".^[3][7] Barnhart dates the word to before 1450.^[4] The OED's first record, of the mind or of affairs, is from 1481, in John Tiptoft's translation of Buonaccorso da Montemagno,^[5] while Collins and Hoad date the word to the 17th century and Dictionary.com to 1595–1605.^[15][9][8]

Semantic evolution

The word applied first to a calm face and mind and to peaceful affairs.^[3][5] From 1748 it was also used of the sea, the weather and landscapes,^[5] and since 1794 of things or actions, meaning steady and even.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "quiet; peaceful; undisturbed", quoting Othello's "Farewel the tranquil mind!"^[16]

Timeline

• before 1450 – of the face, calm, still.^[3][4]
• 1481 – of the mind or of affairs, calm, undisturbed.^[5]
• 1748 – of the sea, the weather or a landscape.^[5]
• 1794 – of things or actions, steady, regular.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Free from mental agitation; calm and serene: After the news she grew more tranquil.^[6][15][5]
2. Free from disturbance or noise; quiet and peaceful: a tranquil lake at dawn.^[6][15][5]

Word family

• tranquilly
• tranquilness
• tranquilize
• untranquil

Related words

• tranquillity
• tranquillize
• quiet
• requiem

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.