Bestill

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make quiet or still; calm; pacify. transitive

Etymology

From Middle English bistillen, bystillen (“to silence”), equivalent to be- + still. Perhaps and alteration of earlier Middle English istillen, ȝestillen (“to make still, calm”), from Old English ġestillan (“to calm, quieten, pacify, stop”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.