What does quiet mean?

What does quiet mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does quiet mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] a period of calm weather(there was a lull in the storm)[v] become quiet or quieter(The audience fell silent when the speaker entered)[a] characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity(a quiet life a quiet throng of onlookers quiet peace-loving people the factions

quiet

quiet - The Free Dictionary

[n] a period of calm weather
(there was a lull in the storm)

[v] become quiet or quieter
(The audience fell silent when the speaker entered)

[a] characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
(a quiet life a quiet throng of onlookers quiet peace-loving people the factions remained quiet for almost 10 years)

[r] with little or no activity or no agitation (`quiet' is a nonstandard variant for `quietly')
(her hands rested quietly in her lap the rock star was quietly led out the back door sit here as quiet as you can)

[n] an untroubled state; free from disturbances

[v] make calm or still
(quiet the dragons of worry and fear)

[a] free of noise or uproar; or making little if any sound
(a quiet audience at the concert the room was dark and quiet)

[n] the absence of sound
(he needed silence in order to sleep the street was quiet)

[a] not showy or obtrusive
(clothes in quiet good taste)

[n] a disposition free from stress or emotion

[a] in a softened tone
(hushed voices muted trumpets a subdued whisper a quiet reprimand)

[a] (of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves
(a ribbon of sand between the angry sea and the placid bay the quiet waters of a lagoon a lake of tranquil blue water reflecting a tranquil blue sky a smooth channel crossing scarcely a ripple on the still water unruffled water)

[a] of the sun characterized by a low level of surface phenomena like sunspots e.g.

Other vocabulary

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Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.