A parent who wants to win a little peace and quiet might give a fussy baby a pacifier. An employer seeking to avoid worker discontent might pay employees well. These actions may seem unrelated, but etymologically speaking, they have a lot in common. Both pacifier and pay are ultimately derived from pax, the Latin word for "peace." As you may have guessed, pax is also the source of our word peace. Pacify comes to us through Middle English pacifien, from the Latin verb pacificare, which derives from pax.
appease implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions.
appease their territorial ambitions
placate suggests changing resentment or bitterness to goodwill.
a move to placate local opposition
mollify implies soothing hurt feelings or rising anger.
a speech that mollified the demonstrators
propitiate implies averting anger or malevolence especially of a superior being.
propitiated his parents by dressing up
conciliate suggests ending an estrangement by persuasion, concession, or settling of differences.
conciliating the belligerent nations
Example Sentences
She resigned from her position to pacify her accusers. Their efforts to pacify the nation by force failed. trying to pacify a mob of protesters
Recent Examples on the WebBoth the president and prime minister have held on to their positions, while three other Rajapaksa family members resigned from the Cabinet earlier in April in what appeared an attempt to pacify angry protesters.Arkansas Online, 30 Apr. 2022 Her apology did not do much to pacify outraged members of the community. Nicole Kagan, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2022 Here, the story’s grandmother character is the real villain, the real predator, and one who attempts to pacify the protective dogs with a smile and a bone.San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 July 2022 Both the president and prime minister have held on to their positions, while three other Rajapaksa family members resigned from the Cabinet earlier in April in what appeared an attempt to pacify angry protesters.Arkansas Online, 30 Apr. 2022 Bullying from grown men and grown women to score political points, to pacify constituents whipped up into a frenzy by talk radio jerks and cable TV hatemongers.al, 8 Apr. 2022 But then they would be left trying to pacify more than 40 million mostly hostile Ukrainians, which would require most of the active-duty military, leaving little for further invasions. Benjamin H. Friedman, The Week, 20 Mar. 2022 Both the president and prime minister have held on to their positions, while three other Rajapaksa family members resigned from the Cabinet earlier in April in what appeared an attempt to pacify angry protesters.Arkansas Online, 30 Apr. 2022 Both the president and prime minister have held on to their positions, while three other Rajapaksa family members resigned from the Cabinet earlier in April in what appeared an attempt to pacify angry protesters. Krishan Francis, ajc, 29 Apr. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English pacifien, from Anglo-French pacifier, from Latin pacificare, from pac-, pax peace