different between soften vs stifle

English

Etymology

From Middle English softenen, softnen, equivalent to soft +? -en.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?f?n/, enPR: s?f?en
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s?f?n/, enPR: sôf?en
• (US, cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /?s?f?n/, enPR: s?f?en

Verb

soften (third-person singular simple present softens, present participle softening, simple past and past participle softened)

1. (transitive) To make something soft or softer.

   Soften the butter before beating in the sugar.

2. (transitive) To undermine the morale of someone (often soften up).

   Before the invasion, we softened up the enemy with the artillery.

3. (transitive) To make less harsh

   Having second thoughts, I softened my criticism.
4. (intransitive) To become soft or softer

   The butter softened as it warmed up.

Derived terms

• soften the ground
• softener

Translations

See also

• mollify
• neshen

Anagrams

• Sefton

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sta?fl?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sta?f(?)l/
• Rhymes: -a?f?l
• Hyphenation: stif?le

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Late Middle English stuflen (“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, perhaps from stuffen (“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”) + -el- (derivational infix in verbs, often denoting diminutive, intensive, or repetitive actions or events). Stuffen is derived from Old French estofer, estouffer (“to choke, strangle, suffocate; (figuratively) to inhibit, prevent”) [and other forms] (modern French étouffer), a variant of estoper, estuper (“to block, plug, stop up; to stiffen, thicken”) (modern French étouper (“to caulk”)), influenced by estofer (“to pad, stuff; to upholster”) (modern French étoffer). Estoper is derived from Vulgar Latin *stupp?re, from Latin stuppa (“coarse flax, tow”) (as a stuffing material; from Ancient Greek ????? (stúp?), ?????? (stúpp?) (compare ????????? (stuppeîon)); probably from Pre-Greek) + -?re. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a derivation from Old Norse stífla (“to dam; to choke, stop up”) “appears untenable on the ground both of form and sense”.

The noun is derived from the verb.

Verb

stifle (third-person singular simple present stifles, present participle stifling, simple past and past participle stifled)

1. (transitive, also figuratively) To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) death by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.
   • 1708, Jonathan Swift, Accomplishment of the First Prediction

     I took my leave, being half stifled with the closeness of the room.
2. (transitive, hyperbolic) To cause (someone) difficulty in breathing, or a choking or gagging feeling.

3. (transitive, also figuratively) To prevent (a breath, cough, or cry, or the voice, etc.) from being released from the throat.
4. (transitive) To make (something) unable to be heard by blocking it with some medium.
5. (transitive, figuratively)
   1. (transitive) To keep in, hold back, or repress (something).

      Synonyms: hinder, restrain, smother, suppress, throttle

      • 1723, Daniel Waterland, A Second Vindication of Christ's Divinity

        I desire only to have things fairly represented as they really are; no evidence smothered or stifled.
   2. (transitive) To prevent (something) from being revealed; to conceal, to hide, to suppress.
6. (transitive, agriculture (sericulture)) To treat (a silkworm cocoon) with steam as part of the process of silk production.
7. (intransitive) To die of suffocation.

8. (intransitive, hyperbolic) To feel smothered; to find it difficult to breathe.

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• stifil (obsolete, 16th c.)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Thesaurus:die

Noun

stifle (plural stifles)

1. (rare) An act or state of being stifled.

Translations

Etymology 2

The noun is derived from Middle English stifle (“joint between the femur and tibia of a quadruped”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, probably derived from Anglo-Norman estive (“leg”), and Old French estive (“leg”) (compare Old French estival (“boot, shoe”)).

The verb is derived from the noun.

Noun

stifle (plural stifles)

1. (zootomy) The joint between the femur and tibia in the hind leg of various four-legged mammals, especially horses, corresponding to the knee in humans.

   Synonym: stifle joint

2. (veterinary medicine) A bone disease of this region.

Derived terms

• stifle bone
• stifle joint

Translations

Verb

stifle (third-person singular simple present stifles, present participle stifling, simple past and past participle stifled)

1. (transitive) To cause (a dog, horse, or other four-legged mammal) to dislocate or sprain its stifle joint.

Derived terms

• stifling (noun)

Translations

Notes

References

Further reading

• asphyxia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• stifle joint on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “stifle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• filets, fistle, fliest, flites, itself