quell

Etymology 1

From Middle English quellen, from Old English cwellan (“to kill”), from Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną (“to make die; kill”). 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.

verb

1. (transitive) To subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit.
2. (transitive) To suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish.
   to quell grief
   to quell the tumult of the soul
   However, after quelling Burnley's threat, Southampton failed to build on their growing danger culminating in Tadic's missed penalty. December 13, 2014, Mandeep Sanghera, “Burnley 1-0 Southampton”, in BBC Sport
3. (obsolete, transitive) To kill.
4. (obsolete, intransitive) To be subdued or abated; to diminish.
5. To die.

noun

1. A subduing.
   The quell of the rebellion raised Justinian to the acme of power. 1903, Knowledge: A Monthly Record of Science
   Hu had been supportive of Chiang's role throughout the northern expedition and the quell of southern rebellion. 1978, Shiu Heng Chook, Chiang Kai-shek Close-up: A Personal View
   The consequences have not been significant in terms of the quell of any of the three drugs into the United States. 1994, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. international drug control policy: recent experience, future options : seminar proceedings, Government Printing Office
   Each Martial Law was marked by the quell of civil liberties or human rights. 1998, Mirza Arshad Ali Beg, Democracy Displaced in Pakistan: Case History of Disasters of Social Pollution
   But to make things even worse, this is the year of the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games, and that means it's also a Quarter Quell. They occur every twenty-five years, marking the anniversary of the districts' defeat with over-the-top celebrations and, for extra fun, some miserable twist for the tributes. 2013, Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, UK: Scholastic
   An example can be found in the data about the campaigns of Aššur-bān-apli against Arab tribes after the quell of the revolt of Šamaš-šumukīn. 2014, Markham J. Geller, Melammu: The Ancient World in an Age of Globalization, epubli, page 136

Etymology 2

From Middle English *quelle (suggested by the verb quellen (“to well up; gush forth”)), from Old English cwylla, *cwielle (“spring; source”), from Proto-Germanic *kwellǭ (“well; spring”). Compare German Quelle.

noun

1. A source, especially a spring.
   And when they had eaten, and sat resting in a grotto, he was still singing, and she was the goddess of his Muse, — the quell of living waters out of which he drew fresh strength for new lays. 1894, George Egerton, Discords
   Other excruciations replaced her namesake's loquacious quells so completely that when, during a lucid interval, she happened to open with her weak little hand a lavabo cock for a drink of water, the tepid lymph replied in its own lingo […] 1969, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, Ada, Or, Ardor, a Family Chronicle, Vintage
   The strategists had access to a wide array of private polling and information from focus groups; a quell of information stretching back over his years as a state-wide candidate and office holder. 2001, Hans-Dieter Klingemann, Andrea Römmele, Public Information Campaigns and Opinion Research: A Handbook for the Student and Practitioner, SAGE, page 82
2. An emotion or sensation which rises suddenly.
   A quell of strength over took Robin with each of his words. She was about to fall apart, but Jacob was as brave as a warrior going into battle. 2001, Zane Gates, The Cure, iUniverse, page 241
   For a moment their eyes locked, and she felt a quell of anger rise above her apprehension. Reality struck with appalling clarity, yet she could only lie down, partially drugged and untidy as she was from such rough traveling. 2011, Linda Lee Chaikin, Hawaiian Crosswinds, Moody Publishers
   I read on. It will cost two hundred and fifty quid. I felt a quell of alarm, that's quite expensive. 2012, Molly Hopkins, It Happened at Boot Camp: Exclusive Novella, Hachette UK