Apaisement

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The deliberate policy or act of soothing a hostile power by making concessions so as to avoid conflict
2. Conciliation of an aggressor through yielding, meant to keep the peace and prevent open hostilities
3. A pacifying approach that gives up something to a potential enemy in hope of averting war

Etymology: Apaisement is a French word meaning "appeasement," built from "apaiser," "to calm or pacify," which combines "a-" (from Latin "ad," "to") with "paix" ("peace," from Latin "pax"). Its famous English life came in the 1930s, when it was applied to a foreign policy of conceding to aggressive powers in the hope of avoiding war. The French term had long been used in ordinary senses of soothing or reconciling, but in English it became tightly linked with the diplomacy of Neville Chamberlain's government toward Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy. Readers who know the English word "appease" will recognise the same root, which entered English from Old French "apaisier" in the 15th century. Because English already had "appease," the French noun "apaisement" was used mainly as a loanword, and it appears in English largely in discussions of that 1930s policy and its failure.

Synonyms: appeasement, conciliation, pacification, placation, mollification

Antonyms: provocation, incitement, antagonism, aggravation