stillness

English

Alternative forms

• stillnesse (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English stilnesse, from Old English stilnes (“stillness, quiet; absence of noise or disturbance, release, relaxation; silence, abstention from speech; absence of disturbance or molestation, tranquility, peace, security; that which appeases”), equivalent to still +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɪlnəs/
• Rhymes: -ɪlnəs
• Hyphenation: still‧ness

Noun

stillness (countable and uncountable, plural stillnesses)

1. The quality or state of being still.

   Synonyms: calmness, motionlessness, inactivity, inertia

   • 1839, Charles Darwin, Journal and remarks: 1832-1836, volume 3, page 133:

     The teru-tero (Vanellus cayanensis), is another bird, which often disturbs the stillness of the night.

   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:

     It resembled them in the sense that it was not ended, when it was past, but continued to unfold, in Watt's head, from beginning to end, over and over again, the complex connexions of its lights and shadows, the passing from silence to sound and from sound to silence, the stillness before the movement and the stillness after, the quickenings and retardings, the approaches and the separations, all the shifting detail of its march and ordinance, according to the irrevocable caprice of its taking place.

2. Habitual silence or quiet; taciturnity.

   Synonyms: quietness, silence

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 320:

     The grauitie, and ſtillneſſe of your youth / The world hath noted.

   • 1977, Stevie Nicks (lyrics and music), “Dreams”, in Rumours, performed by Fleetwood Mac:

     Like a heartbeat drives you mad / In the stillness of remembering what you had / And what you lost

Translations

quality or state of being still

• Bulgarian: тишина (bg) f (tišina), спокойствие (bg) n (spokojstvie)
• Catalan: calma (ca) f
• Czech: klid (cs) m
• Esperanto: senmoveco
• French: calme (fr) m, immobilité (fr) f
• German: Stille (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἡσυχία f (hēsukhía)

• Italian: immobilità (it) f
• Malayalam: നിശ്ചലത (ml) (niścalata)
• Swedish: stillhet (sv) c
• Welsh: llonyddwch (cy)

References

• “stillness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.