To make still or calm; to silence or quieten; an archaic verb meaning to cause stillness.
From be- (causative prefix) + still (from Old English stille). The prefix be- creates a verb from the adjective still, a pattern common in early English but mostly abandoned in modern usage.
This beautiful archaic word shows how the be- prefix let medieval English create new verbs effortlessly—you could 'befriend,' 'bestir,' 'bedazzle,' and 'bestill' anyone or anything, giving the language incredible flexibility that we've largely lost.
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