quell

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit.
2. (transitive) To suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To kill.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To be subdued or abated; to diminish.
5. To die.

Noun

A subduing.

Noun

1. A source, especially a spring.
2. An emotion or sensation which rises suddenly.

Synonyms

suppress

subdue

stop

🛑

quash

conquer

stifle

subjugate

choke

suffocate

vanquish

put down

repress

quench

calm

end

🔚

tame

quiet

crush

abate

halt

appease

prorogue

discontinue

staunch

pacify

overcome

lift

overpower

defeat

terminate

calm down

tranquillize

curb

smother

silence

squelch

kill

🔪🩸👤

coerce

beat

finish

assuage

chastise

conclude

beat out

placate

stay

defray

carry

debilitate

dampen

Translations

onderdrukken

neerslaan

sofocar

smoren

réprimer

étouffer

verkroppen

verstikken

sufocar

soffocare

suffoquer

acabar

Einhalt gebieten

ein Ende machen

einstellen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kwɛl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: quellen

Inherited from Old English: cwellan

Cognate with German: quälen

Cognate with Swedish: kvälja

Cognate with Icelandic: kvelja

Cognate with Classical Armenian: կեղ

Cognate with Church Slavic: жаль

Inherited from Middle English: *quelle

Inherited from Old English: cwylla

Cognate with German: Quelle

In summary

From Middle English quellen, from Old English cwellan (“to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną (“to make die; kill”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-. Cognate with German quälen (“to torment; agonise; smite”), Swedish kvälja (“to torment”), Icelandic kvelja (“to torture; torment”). Compare also Old Armenian կեղ (keł, “sore, ulcer”), Old Church Slavonic жаль (žalĭ, “pain”). See also kill, which may be its doublet.