different between quell vs compose

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kw?l/

Etymology 1

From Middle English quellen, from Old English cwellan (“to kill”), from Proto-Germanic *kwaljan? (“to make die; kill”). Cognate with German quälen (“to torment; agonise; smite”), Swedish kvälja (“to torment”), Icelandic kvelja (“to torture; torment”). Compare also Old Armenian ??? (ke?, “sore, ulcer”), Old Church Slavonic ???? (žal?, “pain”). See also kill.

Verb

quell (third-person singular simple present quells, present participle quelling, simple past and past participle quelled)

1. (transitive) To subdue, to put down; to silence or force (someone) to submit. [from 10th c.]
   • 1849, Thomas Macaulay, History of England, Chapter 1:

     The nation obeyed the call, rallied round the sovereign, and enabled him to quell the disaffected minority.

   • 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Courtship of Miles Standish

     Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt.

2. (transitive) To suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish. [from 14th c.]

   to quell grief

   to quell the tumult of the soul
3. (obsolete, transitive) To kill. [9th-19th c.]
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)
4. (obsolete, intransitive) To be subdued or abated; to diminish. [16th-17th c.]

   • Winter's wrath begins to quell.

5. To die.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Chapter 7:

     Yet he did quake and quaver, like to quell.

Noun

quell (plural quells)

1. A subduing.
   • 1903, Knowledge: A Monthly Record of Science

     The quell of the rebellion raised Justinian to the acme of power.

   • 1994, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. international drug control policy: recent experience, future options : seminar proceedings, Government Printing Office ?ISBN

     The consequences have not been significant in terms of the quell of any of the three drugs into the United States.

   • 2013, Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, Scholastic UK

     But to make things even worse, this is the year of the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games, and that means it's also a Quarter Quell. They occur every twenty-five years, marking the anniversary of the districts' defeat with over-the-top celebrations and, for extra fun, some miserable twist for the tributes.

   • 2014, Markham J. Geller, Melammu: The Ancient World in an Age of Globalization, epubli ?ISBN, page 136

     An example can be found in the data about the campaigns of Aššur-b?n-apli against Arab tribes after the quell of the revolt of Šamaš-šumuk?n.

Related terms

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “quell”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Etymology 2

From Middle English *quelle (suggested by the verb quellen (“to well up; gush forth”)), from Old English cwylla, *cwielle (“spring; source”), from Proto-Germanic *kwell? (“well; spring”). Compare German Quelle.

Noun

quell (plural quells)

1. A source, especially a spring.
   • 1969, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, Ada, Or, Ardor, a Family Chronicle, Vintage ?ISBN

     Other excruciations replaced her namesake's loquacious quells so completely that when, during a lucid interval, she happened to open with her weak little hand a lavabo cock for a drink of water, the tepid lymph replied in its own lingo […]

   • 2001, Hans-Dieter Klingemann, Andrea Römmele, Public Information Campaigns and Opinion Research: A Handbook for the Student and Practitioner, SAGE ?ISBN, page 82

     The strategists had access to a wide array of private polling and information from focus groups; a quell of information stretching back over his years as a state-wide candidate and office holder.

2. An emotion or sensation which rises suddenly.
   • 2001, Zane Gates, The Cure, iUniverse ?ISBN, page 241

     A quell of strength over took Robin with each of his words. She was about to fall apart, but Jacob was as brave as a warrior going into battle.

   • 2011, Linda Lee Chaikin, Hawaiian Crosswinds, Moody Publishers ?ISBN

     For a moment their eyes locked, and she felt a quell of anger rise above her apprehension. Reality struck with appalling clarity, yet she could only lie down, partially drugged and untidy as she was from such rough traveling.

   • 2012, Molly Hopkins, It Happened at Boot Camp: Exclusive Novella, Hachette UK ?ISBN

     I read on. It will cost two hundred and fifty quid. I felt a quell of alarm, that's quite expensive.

Middle English

Verb

quell

1. Alternative form of quellen

English

Etymology

From Middle English composen, from Old French composer (“to compose, compound, adjust, settle”), from com- + poser, as an adaptation of Latin componere (“to put together, compose”), from com- (“together”) + ponere (“to put, place”)

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: k?m-p?z?, IPA^(key): /k?m?po?z/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: k?m-p?z?, IPA^(key): /k?m?p??z/
• Rhymes: -??z

Verb

compose (third-person singular simple present composes, present participle composing, simple past and past participle composed)

1. (transitive) To make something by merging parts. [from later 15th c.]
   • December 22 1678, Thomas Sprat, A Sermon Preached before the King at White-Hall

     Zeal ought to be composed of the highest degrees of all pious affection.

2. (transitive) To make up the whole; to constitute.

   • A few useful things […] compose their intellectual possessions.

3. (transitive, nonstandard) To comprise.
4. (transitive or intransitive) To construct by mental labor; to think up; particularly, to produce or create a literary or musical work.
   • 1714, Alexander Pope, Imitation of Horace, Book II. Sat. 6

     Let me […] compose / Something in Verse as true as Prose.

   • 1838, Benjamin Haydon, Painting, and the fine arts

     the genius that composed such works as the "Standard" and "Last Supper"

5. (sometimes reflexive) To calm; to free from agitation.

   • Compose thy mind; / Nor frauds are here contrived, nor force designed.

6. To arrange the elements of a photograph or other picture.
7. To settle (an argument, dispute etc.); to come to a settlement.
   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic 2011, p. 280:

     By trying his best to compose matters with the mullahs, he had sincerely shown that he did not seek a violent collision […]

8. To arrange in proper form; to reduce to order; to put in proper state or condition.

   • In a peaceful grave my corpse compose.
9. (printing, dated) To arrange (types) in a composing stick for printing; to typeset.

Synonyms

• (make up the whole): constitute, form; see also Thesaurus:compose

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

French

Verb

compose

1. first-person singular present indicative of composer
2. third-person singular present indicative of composer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of composer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of composer
5. second-person singular imperative of composer

Italian

Verb

compose

1. third-person singular past historic of comporre