overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

quell.

To subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/kwɛl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. To subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit.

    transitive

  2. To suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish.

    transitive
    to quell grief
    to quell the tumult of the soul

  3. To kill.

    obsolete · transitive

  4. To be subdued or abated; to diminish.

    intransitive · obsolete

  5. To die.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Proto-Germanic *kwelaną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną Proto-West Germanic *kwalljan Old English cwellan Middle English quellen English quell From Middle English quellen, from Old English cwellan (“to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną (“to make die; kill”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-. Cognate with German quälen (“to torment; agonise; smite”), Swedish kvälja (“to torment”), Icelandic kvelja (“to torture; torment”). Compare also Old Armenian կեղ (keł, “sore, ulcer”), Old Church Slavonic жаль (žalĭ, “pain”). See also kill, which may be its doublet.

noun/kwɛl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. A subduing.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Proto-Germanic *kwelaną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną Proto-West Germanic *kwalljan Old English cwellan Middle English quellen English quell From Middle English quellen, from Old English cwellan (“to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną (“to make die; kill”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-. Cognate with German quälen (“to torment; agonise; smite”), Swedish kvälja (“to torment”), Icelandic kvelja (“to torture; torment”). Compare also Old Armenian կեղ (keł, “sore, ulcer”), Old Church Slavonic жаль (žalĭ, “pain”). See also kill, which may be its doublet.

noun/kwɛl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. A source, especially a spring.

  2. An emotion or sensation which rises suddenly.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Proto-West Germanic *kwalljā Old English cwiella Middle English *quelle English quell From Middle English *quelle (suggested by the verb quellen (“to well up; gush forth”)), from Old English cwylla, cwiella (“spring; source”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljā (“spring, well”). Compare German Quelle.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

quell has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

quell studioquell workshello, quell

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.