Quiets

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Reduces noise or calms someone or something down
2. Causes a reduction in sound or pacifies a person or situation
3. Lowers the volume or soothes agitation in an environment or individual

Etymology: "Quiets" is the third-person singular present of the verb "quiet", meaning to make something calmer or less noisy. The verb grows from the adjective, which came into Middle English from Old French "quiet", itself from Latin "quiētus", the past participle of "quiēscere", meaning "to keep quiet, rest". That Latin root reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European base meaning "rest", so the idea of stillness sits at the heart of the family. The same Latin source gave English several words that have since split apart in meaning. "Coy", "quit", "quite" and "quietus" are all doublets of "quiet", descended from the same Latin ancestor but arriving by different routes. "Quietus", for instance, kept a sense of final rest, as in a release from life, which "quiet" itself never took on.

Synonyms: calms, soothes, pacifies, settles, tranquilizes

Antonyms: agitates, disturbs, excites, troubles, perturbs