lull
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See also: Lull
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”).
Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /lʌl/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -ʌl
Noun
[edit]lull (plural lulls)
- A period of rest or soothing.
- A period of reduced activity; a respite.
- (nautical) A period without waves or wind.
- 1839, The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1839, page 26:
- […] during the lull, wind shifted to S. E. […]
- 1875, W. G. Wilson, Report of the Midnapore and Burdwan Cyclone of the 15th and 16th of October 1874, page 74:
- After the lull the wind does not appear to have blown with any great strength […]
- 2016, David Houghton, Fiona Campbell, Wind Strategy, not paginated:
- The air under each cloud has spent time near the surface, has been slowed and backed by friction—it is a lull.
- (surfing) An extended pause between sets of waves.
- 1992, John Warlaumont, The Noaa Diving Manual[1], page 19-19:
- It is advisable to leave the surf zone during the lull between sets of larger waves, waiting outside the surf zone for a lull.
- 808surfer.com forum (password needed):
- About 2 hours in, a long lull cleared everyone out, and then it started getting a little more consistent and pushing chest ta neck high.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]a period of rest
|
a period without waves or wind.
Verb
[edit]
lull (third-person singular simple present lulls, present participle lulling, simple past and past participle lulled)
- (transitive) To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 30:
- To lull him soft a sleepe
- 1634, John Milton, “Arcades”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 54:
- Such ſweet compulſion doth in muſick ly, / To lull the daughers of Neceſſity,
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXXVII, page 57:
- To lull with song an aching heart
- (intransitive) To become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate.
- The storm lulled.
Synonyms
[edit]- (To cause to rest): appease
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to cause to rest
|
to become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
Swedish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Compare lulla.
Adverb
[edit]lull (not comparable)
Interjection
[edit]lull
- Used to lull (a child) to sleep.
Usage notes
[edit]Now mostly appears only in lullabies.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]See also
[edit]- vaggvisa (“lullaby”)
References
[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *leh₂- (bark)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English onomatopoeias
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ʌl
- Rhymes:English/ʌl/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Rest
- en:Nautical
- English terms with quotations
- en:Surfing
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish adverbs
- Swedish interjections