Quiet v.

Also 6 quyet. [ad. med.L. quiētāre, f. L. quiētus QUIET a.]

  † 1.  trans. To quit, acquit (oneself or another).

c. 1440.  Generydes, 2861. Eche of hem iij so wele quiete them ther.

1472–3.  Rolls Parlt., VI. 50/1. That your said suppliaunt … be discharged, relesed and quieted, of almaner … fynes, paynes [etc.].

  2.  To make quiet (in various senses); to reduce to quietness:

  a.  a person or people, a material thing, etc.

1550.  Crowley, Way to Wealth, 269. Quiet thy selfe therfore, and striue not againste the streame.

1599.  Shaks., Hen. V., V. i. 54. Quiet thy Cudgell, thou dost see I eate.

1609.  Holland, Amm. Marcell., 109. Those savage nations whom he had quieted.

1665.  Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Warres, 520. A very difficult piece of Work … to quiet all the right side of the Rhine.

1786.  Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, 8 Nov. I did what was possible to quiet her, but to no purpose.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xii. III. 211. In trying to quiet one set of malecontents, he had created another.

1866.  G. Macdonald, Ann. Q. Neighb., vi. (1878), 73. She knew she had no chance of quieting the girl.

  b.  a feeling or emotion, esp. of fear.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 2 b. His naturall inclinacyon and appetyte can neuer be sacyate, contented and quieted.

1552.  Bk. Com. Prayer Commun., If there be any of you which … cannot quiet his own conscience.

1748.  Anson’s Voy., II. xi. 253. This quieted our apprehensions for some days.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xi. III. 32. The event quieted the fears of one party.

1888.  Bryce, Amer. Commw., III. lxxxviii. 190. In order to quiet these suspicions the comptroller played a very bold game.

  c.  a disturbance, dissension, etc.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 174. The byshop wyl sende thether … to quiet the controversy.

1601.  J. Wheeler, Treat. Comm., 33. Till the said King Edward had quieted the troubles with his subiects at home.

1674.  Essex Papers (Camden), I. 193. Some companys of y^e Guard being comanded together to quiet y^e Tumult.

1792.  Burke, Lett. to R. Burke, Corr. IV. 4. Measures which may quiet the unhappy divisions of the country.

1846.  Trench, Mirac., iv. (1862), 147. Quieting with a word the tempest in their bosoms.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 360. The motion … quiets the restless palpitation of the heart.

  3.  To settle or establish in quiet. Chiefly Law.

c. 1586.  C’tess Pembroke, Ps. LXXXII. iii. You should unto the weake extend Your hand, to loose and quiet his estate.

1654.  G. Goddard, Introd. Burton’s Diary (1828), I. 190. A Bill for quieting the possession of the government.

1668.  Ormonde MSS., in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 69. Your petitioner … made surrender of his estate unto the Crowne so soone as he was quieted in the possession thereof.

1884.  Sir J. Bacon, in Law Rep. 27 Chanc. Div. 47. The Plaintiffs are entitled … to be quieted in the possession they have had for so many years.

  4.  intr. To become quiet. Also to quiet down.

1791.  Paine, Rights of Man (ed. 4), 27. The mind can hardly … conceive the possibility of its quieting so soon.

1851.  Mayne Reid, Scalp Hunt., xxxii. 247. I have never seen buffaloes ‘quieting’ down before.

1865.  Mrs. Whitney, Gayworthys, II. 237. By and by she quieted, and, from pure exhaustion, fell asleep.

  Hence Quieted ppl. a.

1894.  E. F. Benson, Dodo, 185. The darkened house, the quieted movements.