still

Etymology 1

From Middle English stille (“motionless, stationary”), from Old English stille (“still, quiet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stillī, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telH- (“to be silent; to be still”). Cognate with Scots stil (“still”), Saterland Frisian stil (“motionless, calm, quiet”), West Frisian stil (“quiet, still”), Dutch stil (“quiet, silent, still”), Low German still (“quiet, still”), German still (“still, quiet, tranquil, silent”), Swedish stilla (“quiet, silent, peaceful”), Icelandic stilltur (“set, quiet, calm, still”). Related to stall. (noun: Falkland Islander): Military slang, short for still a Benny, since the military had been instructed not to refer to the islanders by the derogatory term Benny (which see).

adj

1. Not moving; calm.
   Sit there and stay still!
   Still waters run deep.
2. Not effervescing; not sparkling.
   still water; still wines
3. Uttering no sound; silent.
   The sea that roared at thy command, / At thy command was still. c. 1711, Joseph Addison, How are thy Servants blest, O Lord!
4. (not comparable) Having the same stated quality continuously from a past time
   To follow the still President’s marching orders, all that Secretary Ronnie Puno has to do is to follow the road map laid out by Justice Azcuna in his “separate” opinion. January 3 2007, Gerry Geronimo, “Unwanted weed starts to sprout from a wayward ponencia”, in Manila Standard, archived from the original on 2011-07-19
5. Comparatively quiet or silent; soft; gentle; low.
6. (obsolete) Constant; continual.

adv

1. Without motion.
   They stood still until the guard was out of sight.
2. (aspect) Up to a time, as in the preceding time.
   Is it still raining? It was still raining five minutes ago.
   We’ve seen most of the sights, but we are still visiting the museum.
   I’m still not wise enough to answer that.
   An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine. 1 June 2013, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)
3. (degree) To an even greater degree. Used to modify comparative adjectives or adverbs.
   Tom is tall; Dick is taller; Harry is still taller / Harry is taller still.
4. (conjunctive) Nevertheless.
   I’m not hungry, but I’ll still manage to find room for dessert.
   Yeah, but still...
   As sunshine, broken in the rill, / Though turned astray, is sunshine still. 1817, Thomas Moore, Lalla-Rookh
   Given the thorny intelligence of [J. C.] Chandor’s previous films (which also include Margin Call and A Most Violent Year), it's hard to believe that he thought it was a good idea to play Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" over a sequence of Pope telling the others that he can't do this job without them, or to accompany shots of the men running through the jungle with Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through The Jungle." (Okay, they're stealthily walking. But still.) 3 July 2019, Mike D’Angelo, “Oscar Isaac and Ben Affleck Blunder through a Heavy Heist in J. C. Chandor’s Triple Frontier”, in The A.V. Club
5. (archaic, poetic) Always; invariably; constantly; continuously.
6. (extensive) Even, yet.
   Some dogs howl; more yelp; still more bark.
   Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes. 2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
7. Alternative spelling of styll
   'Yeah yeah, I'm good still, Stace,' I said. 2022, Moses McKenzie, An Olive Grove in Ends
   HALIL: I can't lie, I didn't expect it from you, man, still! 2022-06-02, Gabrielle Wood, 16:17 from the start, in Teddy Nygh, director, PRU (1), episode 2 (TV), spoken by Halil (Jay Ersavas)

noun

1. A period of calm or silence.
   the still of the night
   Between the roar of the thunder and the blatter of the rain there were intervals of an astounding still, of an ominous suspense […] 1901, Good Words, volume 42, page 7
   As the ground warms, to the first rays of light, / A birdsong shatters the still. 1983 May, Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson (lyrics and music), “Flight of Icarus”, in Piece of Mind, performed by Iron Maiden
2. (photography) A photograph, as opposed to movie footage.
3. (slang) A resident of the Falkland Islands.

Etymology 2

Via Middle English [Term?], ultimately from Latin stilla.

noun

1. A device for distilling liquids.
2. (catering) A large water boiler used to make tea and coffee.
3. (catering) The area in a restaurant used to make tea and coffee, separate from the main kitchen.
4. A building where liquors are distilled; a distillery.

Etymology 3

From Old English stillan.

verb

1. To calm down, to quiet.
   to still the raging sea
   They likewise believed that he, having a full Sway and Command over the Water, had Power to still and compose it, as well as to move and disturb it […] 1695, John Woodward, An essay toward a natural history of the earth and terrestrial bodies, especially minerals, page 139
   Is this the scourge of France? / Is this the Talbot, so much fear'd abroad / That with his name the mothers still their babes? c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part 1, act 2, scene 3
   […] withholding myself from toil that would, at least, have stilled an unquiet impulse in me. 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Etymology 4

Aphetic form of distil, or from Latin stillare.

verb

1. (obsolete) To trickle, drip.
   And if that any drop of slombring rest / Did chaunce to still into her wearie spright, 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book III, canto ii, paragraph xxix
2. To cause to fall by drops.
3. To expel spirit from by heat, or to evaporate and condense in a refrigeratory; to distill.