To calm or soothe someone; to appease or pacify.
From Old French 'acoyer', derived from 'a-' (to) and 'coy' (quiet). The term emerged in Middle English and originally meant to make someone calm or docile, particularly in a gentle or submissive manner.
This word is almost entirely extinct today, but it reveals how English once had dozens of synonyms for 'calm down'—we've consolidated our emotional vocabulary over centuries, losing beautiful distinctions between different types of peacefulness.
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