Etymology
Origin of becalm
Explanation
To becalm is to make something quiet, calm, or still. When there's no wind at all on a lake, you can say that the weather becalms your sailboat. You're most likely to find the verb becalm describing what happens to a sailboat or another vessel with a sail when the air is still and the wind's not blowing. You can also use it to mean "soothe," the way the sound of a familiar voice might becalm a fussy baby. The word dates from about 1550, from be-, "to make," and calm, from the Old French calme, "tranquility."
Vocabulary lists containing becalm
List 4
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
By the Great Horn Spoon!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 10
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Every boundary is an illusion, constructed in order to becalm us, in order to give us the impressions of a definite place,” he has written.
From New York Times • Nov. 18, 2022
Even if this is true--can one flying man becalm Iran, North Korea and al-Qaeda?--he sounds as arrogant as a Wall Street CEO.
From Time • May 7, 2010
The fund also administers the Country House and Hospital, which is not equipped to accommodate any behavioral explosion since one of the principal missions here is to becalm.
From Time Magazine Archive
She does not feel the breeze yet, for there is a little northerly in it, and the cliffs becalm her.”
From The Pirate of the Mediterranean A Tale of the Sea by Tilney, F.C.
Under two lower topsails and a reefed foresail the barque seemed to race with a long, steady sea that did not becalm her in the troughs.
From The Mirror of the Sea by Conrad, Joseph
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
