Quells

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Stops or reduces something forcefully, such as an uprising or rebellion
2. Brings an end to or calms down a disturbance or unpleasant condition
3. Suppresses or quiets a strong emotion or unrest to restore peace

Etymology: "Quells" is the third-person singular present of "quell", so the story is really the verb's. Its most surprising fact is that its modern sense of calming things down descends from a much more violent meaning. In Old English, "cwellan" meant "to kill," and it was cognate with German "quälen," which still means "to torment." Over the centuries the sense softened from killing and tormenting toward subduing, and eventually toward putting down a rebellion or an emotion. A second, separate root produced a related but different word. Old English "cwylla" meant "spring" or "source," the kind of water that wells up from the ground, and it is the source of German "Quelle." English seems to have blended ideas from that stem with the verb quellen, "to well up or gush forth." The two strands are thought to be related in English through the feeling of a welling up, though the exact connection between them is uncertain.

Synonyms: calms, suppresses

Antonyms: provokes, incites