Lully

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To calm someone gently, especially until they fall asleep, by means of soft sounds or soothing motion
2. To quiet a person into rest through soothing sounds, such as a song sung softly to a child
3. Archaic sense meaning to soothe a restless person or animal into a peaceful, sleepy state

Etymology: The most striking thing about "lully" is how little anyone can pin down about where it came from. Its earliest appearances, around 1661, show it already in use as a verb meaning to soothe a person, usually a child, into sleep, but the route to that sense is murky. One suggestion ties it to "laundry", on the idea of a rhythmic, calming motion, though the link is loose. Another, considered more likely, runs through "lullaby" itself. That second theory has some support in the record. The compound "lullaby-cheat", attested from 1648, was slang for a child, literally a "lullaby-thing" or "sleep-stealer", since children were the ones who needed lulling and in a sense robbed their parents of rest. A "lully-prigger" from the same period shows a similar pattern of coinage, so the verb may have grown out of this playful slang family. The word "little" may also have nudged its shape, and related forms like "loll" and "lolly" for a favourite child belong to the same cluster of sounds.