appease

English

Etymology

From Middle English apesen, from Old French apeser (“to pacify, bring to peace”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈpiːz/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːz

Verb

appease (third-person singular simple present appeases, present participle appeasing, simple past and past participle appeased)

1. To make quiet; to calm; to reduce to a state of peace; to dispel (anger or hatred).

   Synonyms: calm, pacify, placate, quell, quiet, still, lull

   to appease the tumult of the ocean

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:

     'First, a little refreshment to reward my exertions. You may as well be quiet. It is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have appeased my thirst!'

2. To come to terms with; to adapt to the demands of.

   Synonyms: mollify, propitiate

   They appeased the angry gods with burnt offerings.

Antonyms

• antagonize

Derived terms

• appeasatory
• appeasement
• appeaser

 

Translations

to make quiet; to calm; to reduce to a state of peace; to still; to pacify

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: խաղաղեցնել (hy) (xaġaġecʻnel), հանդարտեցնել (hy) (handartecʻnel), մեղմել (hy) (meġmel)
• Belarusian: супако́йваць impf (supakójvacʹ), супако́іць pf (supakóicʹ)
• Bulgarian: умиротворя́вам (bg) impf (umirotvorjávam), умиротворя́ (bg) pf (umirotvorjá), успокоя́вам (bg) impf (uspokojávam), успокоя́ pf (uspokojá)
• Catalan: amainar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 安撫／安抚 (zh) (ānfǔ)

• Danish: fredeliggøre, formilde, berolige
• Dutch: kalmeren (nl)
• Esperanto: trankviligi, kvietigi (eo)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: hiljentää (fi) (to make quiet); rauhoittaa (fi) (to reduce to peace); tyynnyttää (fi) (to still)
• French: apaiser (fr)
• Galician: apaciguar
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: besänftigen (de), friedlich stimmen
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἱλάσκομαι (hiláskomai)

• Hebrew: לפייס (le'fayes)
• Hungarian: csillapít (hu)
• Irish: ceansaigh
• Italian: placare (it), pacificare (it), calmare (it), pacificare (it)
• Khmer: រំងាប់ (km) (rumngŏəp)
• Latin: pācificō
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: whakamauru
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Nahuatl: yolceuiz
• Persian: آرام کردن (fa) (ârâm kardan)
• Portuguese: apaziguar (pt)
• Romanian: astâmpăra (ro)
• Russian: умиротворя́ть (ru) impf (umirotvorjátʹ), умиротвори́ть (ru) pf (umirotvorítʹ), успока́ивать (ru) impf (uspokáivatʹ), успоко́ить (ru) pf (uspokóitʹ)
• Sicilian: appaciari, carmari
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: apaciguar (es), calmar (es), aplacar (es)
• Swahili: afiki (sw)
• Swedish: blidka (sv), stilla (sv), lugna (sv), släcka (sv), mildra (sv)
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: sakinleştirmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: умиротворя́ти impf (umyrotvorjáty), умиротвори́ти pf (umyrotvorýty), утихоми́рювати impf (utyxomýrjuvaty), утихоми́рити pf (utyxomýryty)

to come to terms with; to adapt to the demands of

• Bulgarian: умиротворя́вам (bg) impf (umirotvorjávam), умиротворя́ (bg) pf (umirotvorjá)
• Finnish: lepyttää (fi), lepytellä (fi) (to come to terms with); myöntyä (fi) (to adapt to the demands of)
• French: apaiser (fr)
• German: beschwichtigen (de)
• Persian: مماشات کردن (momâšât karan), دلجویی کردن (del-juyi kardan), آرام کردن (fa) (ârâm kardan)
• Russian: умиротворя́ть (ru) impf (umirotvorjátʹ), умиротвори́ть (ru) pf (umirotvorítʹ)
• Sicilian: appaciari
• Ukrainian: умиротворя́ти impf (umyrotvorjáty), умиротвори́ти pf (umyrotvorýty)

Further reading

• “appease”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “appease”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• paepaes