different between quiet vs dull

English

Etymology

From Middle English quiete, from Old French quiet (adjective) and quiete (noun), from Latin qui?tus, past participle of qui?scere (“to keep quiet, rest”). Doublet of coy and quietus.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kw?'?t, IPA^(key): /?kwa?.?t/
• (weak vowel merger) enPR: kw?'?t, IPA^(key): /?kwa?.?t/
• Rhymes: -a??t

Adjective

quiet (comparative quieter or more quiet, superlative quietest or most quiet)

1. With little or no sound; free of disturbing noise.

2. Having little motion or activity; calm.

3. Not busy, of low quantity.

4. Not talking much or not talking loudly; reserved.

5. Not showy; undemonstrative.

6. (software) Requiring little or no interaction.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:quiet.

Synonyms

• (with little sound): See also Thesaurus:silent
• (having little motion): See also Thesaurus:calm
• (not busy): slow, unbusy
• (not talking): See also Thesaurus:taciturn
• (not showy): modest, plain, simple

Antonyms

• loud
• sounded
• vocal

Translations

Verb

quiet (third-person singular simple present quiets, present participle quieting, simple past and past participle quieted)

1. To become quiet, silent, still, tranquil, calm.

   Synonyms: quiet down, quieten

2. To cause someone to become quiet.

   Synonyms: quiet down, quieten

Translations

Noun

quiet (plural quiets)

1. The absence of sound; quietness.

2. the absence of movement; stillness, tranquility

Translations

Interjection

quiet

1. Be quiet.

Related terms

Further reading

• quiet in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• quiet in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• quiet at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “quiet”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• quite

Catalan

Etymology

First attested 1490. From Latin qui?tus, in this form probably a borrowing or a semi-learned term; cf. also the Old Catalan form quet, queda, which was likely inherited.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /ki??t/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ki??t/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ki?et/

Adjective

quiet (feminine quieta, masculine plural quiets, feminine plural quietes)

1. calm, stopped
2. quiet

Synonyms

• aturat
• detingut

Related terms

• quedar

Copallén

Noun

quiet

1. water

References

• Willem F. H. Adelaar, The Languages of the Andes

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin qui?tus, from qui?s (“rest”). Doublet of coi, which was inherited, and quitte, another borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kj?/

Adjective

quiet (feminine singular quiète, masculine plural quiets, feminine plural quiètes)

1. (rare, literary) calm, quiet, peaceful, at ease

Synonyms

• See calme

Related terms

• quiétude

Usage notes

Its antonym inquiet is much more common.

Further reading

• “quiet” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin qui?tus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?kjet]

Adjective

quiet m (feminine singular quieta, masculine plural quiets, feminine plural quietas)

1. calm, stopped
2. quiet

Synonyms

• suau
• tranquil

English

Alternative forms

• dul, dulle (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”), from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (“stunned, mad, foolish, misled”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?wel-, *d?ewel- (“to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl”). Cognate with Scots dull, doll (“slow to understand or hear, deaf, dull”), North Frisian dol (“rash, unthinking, giddy, flippant”), Dutch dol (“crazy, mad, insane”), Low German dul, dol (“mad, silly, stupid, fatuous”), German toll (“crazy, mad, wild, fantastic”), Danish dval (“foolish, absurd”), Icelandic dulur (“secretive, silent”), West-Flemish dul (angry, furious).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?l/
  • (Canada) IPA^(key): /d?l/, /d?l/, /d??/
• (US)
• Rhymes: -?l

Adjective

dull (comparative duller, superlative dullest)

1. Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.

2. Boring; not exciting or interesting.

3. Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.

   a dull fire or lamp;? a dull red or yellow;? a dull mirror

   • A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.

4. Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
5. Sluggish, listless.

   • This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene

     O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.
6. Cloudy, overcast.

7. Insensible; unfeeling.

   • Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.

8. Heavy; lifeless; inert.
   • c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk

     As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.

9. (of pain etc) Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.

   Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.

10. (of a noise or sound) Not clear, muffled.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:boring
• See also Thesaurus:stupid
• (not shiny): lackluster, matte

Antonyms

• bright
• intelligent
• sharp

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dull (third-person singular simple present dulls, present participle dulling, simple past and past participle dulled)

1. (transitive) To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.

   Years of misuse have dulled the tools.

   • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain

     This […] dulled their swords.

2. (transitive) To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.

   He drinks to dull the pain.

   • 1850, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord

     Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.

3. (intransitive) To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.

   A razor will dull with use.

4. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.

Synonyms

• dullen

Translations

References

• dull in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• dull in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• ULDL

Welsh

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dey?- (“to show, point out”).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /d???/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /d??/

Noun

dull m (plural dulliau)

1. method

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “dull”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

References