different between mollify vs still

English

Alternative forms

• mollifie

Etymology

From Middle English mollifien, from Late Latin mollific?, from Latin mollis (“soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?l?fa?/

Verb

mollify (third-person singular simple present mollifies, present participle mollifying, simple past and past participle mollified)

1. To ease a burden, particularly worry; make less painful; to comfort.
   • 1893, Henry George, The Condition of Labor: An Open Letter to Pope Leo XIII, p. 104:

     All that charity can do where injustice exists is here and there to somewhat mollify the effects of injustice.

   • 1997, A Government Reinvented: A Study of Alberta's Deficit Elimination Program, p. 408:

     The draft Charter School Handbook issued in November 1994 sought to mollify concerns over teacher quality, if not ATA membership, by requiring teacher certification.

2. To appease (anger), pacify, gain the good will of.
   • 1867, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, chapter 2:

     Although this invitation was accompanied with a curtsey that might have softened the heart of a church-warden, it by no means mollified the beadle.

   • 1916, L. Frank Baum, Rinkitink in Oz, chapter 5:

     The angry goat was quite mollified by the respectful tone in which he was addressed.

   • 2016 January 31, "Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?," Vanity Fair (retrieved 21 January 2016):

     But these answers did not mollify Grassley. Specifically, he objected to Abedin’s becoming an S.G.E., because he believed she provided no irreplaceable expertise and therefore her designation as one had violated Congress’s intent when it created the program, in 1962.

3. To soften; to make tender
   • 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book III, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 113:

     "Nor is it any more difficulty for him to mollifie what is hard, then it is to harden what is so soft and fluid as the Aire."

   • 1724, William Burkitt, Expository Notes, with Practical Observations on the New Testament, p. 102:

     By thy kindness thou wilt melt and mollify his spirit towards thee, as hardest metals are melted by coals of fire …

Synonyms

• (to ease a burden): assuage, calm, comfort, mitigate, soothe
• (to appease): appease, conciliate, pacify, placate, propitiate, satisfy
• (to soften): soften, soften up, tenderize, temper, anneal, deharden, distemper
• See also Thesaurus:calm

Related terms

• emollient
• mollification

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /st?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English stille (“motionless, stationary”), from Old English stille (“still, quiet, calm; without motion, at rest, not moving from a place, not disturbed; moving little or gently; silent; not loud; secret; unchanging, undisturbed, stable, fixed; not vehement, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic *still? (“quiet, still”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telH- (“to be silent; to be still”). Cognate with Scots stil (“still”), Saterland Frisian stil (“motionless, calm, quiet”), West Frisian stil (“quiet, still”), Dutch stil (“quiet, silent, still”), Low German still (“quiet, still”), German still (“still, quiet, tranquil, silent”), Swedish stilla (“quiet, silent, peaceful”), Icelandic stilltur (“set, quiet, calm, still”). Related to stall.

(noun: Falkland Islander): Military slang, short for still a Benny, since the military had been instructed not to refer to the islanders by the derogatory term Benny (which see).

Alternative forms

• stil
• stille, styll, stylle (obsolete)

Adjective

still (comparative stiller or more still, superlative stillest or most still)

1. Not moving; calm.

2. Not effervescing; not sparkling.

3. Uttering no sound; silent.
   • c. 1711, Joseph Addison, How are thy Servants blest, O Lord!

     The sea that roared at thy command, / At thy command was still.

4. (not comparable) Having the same stated quality continuously from a past time
5. Comparatively quiet or silent; soft; gentle; low.
6. (obsolete) Constant; continual.

Synonyms

• (not moving): fixed, stationary, unmoving, static, inert, stagnant; see also Thesaurus:stationary or Thesaurus:immobile
• (not effervescing): flat, uneffervescent; see also Thesaurus:noneffervescent
• (uttering no sound): noiseless, soundless; see also Thesaurus:silent
• (having the same stated quality):
• (comparatively quiet): hushed, tranquil; see also Thesaurus:quiet
• (constant, continual): incessant, ongoing, unremitting; see also Thesaurus:continuous

Derived terms

• still life
• stillness
• unstill

Related terms

• be still my heart
• be still my beating heart
• still waters run deep

Translations

Adverb

still (not comparable)

1. Without motion.

2. (aspect) Up to a time, as in the preceding time.

3. (degree) To an even greater degree. Used to modify comparative adjectives or adverbs.

   ("still" and "taller" can easily swap places here)
4. (conjunctive) Nevertheless.
   • 1817, Thomas Moore, Lalla-Rookh

     As sunshine, broken in the rill, / Though turned astray, is sunshine still.
5. (archaic, poetic) Always; invariably; constantly; continuously.
   • The desire of fame betrays an ambitious man into indecencies that lessen his reputation; he is still afraid lest any of his actions should be thrown away in private.

   • 1661, Robert Boyle, Unsucceeding Experiments

     Chemists would be rich if they could still do in great quantities what they have sometimes done in little.

6. (extensive) Even, yet.

Synonyms

• (without motion): akinetically, motionlessly, stock still, stockishly
• (up to a time): yet
• (to an even greater degree): yet, even
• (nevertheless): nonetheless, though, yet; see also Thesaurus:nevertheless
• (always): consistently, invariably, uniformly; See also Thesaurus:uniformly
• (even, yet):

Translations

Noun

still (plural stills)

1. A period of calm or silence.

2. (photography) A photograph, as opposed to movie footage.
3. (slang) A resident of the Falkland Islands.
4. A steep hill or ascent.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of W. Browne to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (period of calm): lull, rest, respite; quiet, tranquility
• (resident of the Falkland Islands): Benny, Falklander, Kelper

Translations

Etymology 2

Via Middle English [Term?], ultimately from Latin stilla.

Noun

still (plural stills)

1. A device for distilling liquids.
2. (catering) A large water boiler used to make tea and coffee.
3. (catering) The area in a restaurant used to make tea and coffee, separate from the main kitchen.
4. A building where liquors are distilled; a distillery.

Translations

See also

• pot still

Etymology 3

From Old English stillan.

Verb

still (third-person singular simple present stills, present participle stilling, simple past and past participle stilled)

1. To calm down, to quiet.

Synonyms

• becalm, lull, quell; see also Thesaurus:pacify

Translations

Etymology 4

Aphetic form of distil, or from Latin stillare.

Verb

still (third-person singular simple present stills, present participle stilling, simple past and past participle stilled)

1. (obsolete) To trickle, drip.
2. To cause to fall by drops.
3. To expel spirit from by heat, or to evaporate and condense in a refrigeratory; to distill.

Translations

Anagrams

• Tills, lilts, tills

German

Etymology

From Middle High German [Term?], from Old High German stilli.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?l/

Adjective

still (comparative stiller, superlative am stillsten)

1. quiet, silent

Declension

Adverb

still

1. quietly, silently

Further reading

• “still” in Duden online

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?til/

Adjective

still

1. quiet, silent

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /st?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Verb

still

1. imperative of stille

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Verb

still

1. imperative of stilla

Etymology 2

Adjective

still (masculine and feminine still, neuter stilt, definite singular and plural stille, comparative stillare, indefinite superlative stillast, definite superlative stillaste)

1. Alternative form of stille

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /es?til/, [es?t?il]

Noun

still m (plural stills)

1. (photography) still