Tranquil

How to spell tranquil

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tranquil

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tranquil mean?

1. adjectiveFree from disturbance; calm, still, and peaceful.

Tranquil in a sentence

• The lakeside cottage offered a tranquil retreat after a hectic work week.

• Early mornings in the office were unusually tranquil before the phones started ringing.

Where does tranquil come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from the Latin tranquillus, meaning calm, still, or untroubled, a word the Romans applied especially to a sea without waves or a mind without agitation. The deeper origins are not fully settled, but many scholars connect the second part to the Latin quies, meaning rest or quiet, the same root that gives us 'quiet' and 'quiescent'; the trans- element may have carried the sense of 'thoroughly' or 'across'. English took the word in during the fifteenth century, at first in writing about peaceful states of mind and untroubled weather. A useful point for spelling is that Latin tranquillus had a double l, which survives in the British noun 'tranquillity', yet the adjective itself settled in English with a single l, so 'tranquil' ends quietly in one l. The link to 'quiet' is worth holding onto, since it explains both the meaning and the calm, soft ending of the word.

How the word is built

• tranquil (from Latin tranquillus: calm, still), perhaps trans- (across, thoroughly)
• a root related to quies (rest, quiet)