appease

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈpiːz/
• Rhymes: -iːz

Verb

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, Dracula Chapter 21

     '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

• Armenian: խաղաղեցնել (hy) (xaġaġecʻnel), հանդարտեցնել (hy) (handartecʻnel), մեղմել (hy) (meġmel)
• Bulgarian: укротявам (bg) (ukrotjavam), облекчавам (bg) (oblekčavam), утолявам (bg) (utoljavam)
• Catalan: amainar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 妥协 (zh) (tuǒxié)

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

  Ancient: ἱλάσκομαι (hiláskomai)

• Hebrew: לפייס (le'fayes)
• Hungarian: csillapít (hu)
• Interlingue: , ,
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: ceansaigh
• Italian: placare (it), pacificare (it), calmare (it), pacificare (it)
• Khmer: រំងាប់ (km) (rumŋoap)
• Latin: pācificō
• Maori: whakamauru
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Nahuatl: yolceuiz
• Persian: مماشات کردن (momâšât karan), دلجویی کردن (del-juyi kardan)
• Portuguese: apaziguar (pt)
• Romanian: astâmpăra (ro)
• Russian: умиротворя́ть (ru) (umirotvorjátʹ), успока́ивать (ru) (uspokáivatʹ)
• Sicilian: appaciari (scn), carmari (scn)
• Spanish: apaciguar (es), calmar (es), aplacar (es)
• Swahili: afiki (sw)
• Swedish: blidka (sv), stilla (sv), lugna (sv), släcka (sv), mildra (sv)
• Telugu: batimalatam
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: sakinleştirmek (tr)

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

• Finnish: lepyttää (fi), lepytellä (fi) (to come to terms with); myöntyä (fi) (to adapt to the demands of)
• Sicilian: appaciari (scn)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

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