Lulle

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Soothing someone gently until they grow quiet, calm or drowsy, as an archaic form of the word meaning to hush
2. Quieting a person or child with soft sounds or gentle motion so that they settle into sleep
3. Calming or hushing a restless person by soothing them with a gentle and steady rhythm or tone

Etymology: Long before it meant a pause in the storm, the verb was a nursery sound. Its earliest English uses, in the later Middle Ages, describe hushing or soothing a child to sleep. Its origin is uncertain, but it is most likely imitative, a syllable that echoes the soft repeated murmur used to rock a baby. The same repeated "lu" sound appears in "lullaby," which entered English later and seems to have been built from that refrain. The sense of a temporary calm came later and grew out of the soothing idea. To lull is to quiet something gradually, so a lull in wind, fighting, or conversation is a stretch of quiet that makes people relax, much as a child settles under a hum. The spelling "lulle" simply reflects older English spelling, when the final "e" and doubled consonants were used more freely than they are now.