What does quiets mean?
Quiets is the third-person singular form of the verb quiet. In its transitive use, it means to make a person, place, animal, or situation less noisy, active, or disturbed: “She quiets the baby before leaving the room.” In its intransitive use, it means that the subject itself becomes still or calm, as when wind quiets near the end of a storm. The verb is common in both formal and informal English and can describe the control of noise or movement without necessarily implying complete silence. “Quiet the crowd” is a typical fixed use, while “the sea quiets” gives the word an atmospheric or literary quality. Although quiets looks like a plural noun, it is ordinarily the verb form of quiet, and the exact form in a sentence depends on the subject and tense.
verbTo cause something to become quiet or still; intransitively, to become quiet or still oneself.
- To cause something to become quiet or still.
- To become quiet or still.
"The librarian quiets the room with a single raised hand."
"The librarian quiets the room with a single raised hand."
"By dusk, the wind quiets and the birds begin to sing."
Quiets can be transitive or intransitive: it can make a place silent, or become silent itself.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does quiets come from?
The form quiets belongs to the English verb quiet, whose history is tied to Middle English quiete and the earlier Anglo-French word quiet. These forms ultimately derive from Latin quietus, meaning “restful” or “still,” which is related to quies, meaning “rest.” The modern verb preserves the basic idea of bringing or becoming a state of calmness and stillness.
Related word forms
How quiets is actually used
The verb is commonly transitive, as in “quiets the children,” but it can also be intransitive, meaning that the subject becomes quiet or calm.
Easily confused with quiets
“Quiets” means making something or becoming quiet, whereas “quits” means stops doing something.