Month: March 2020

1610s, “remain at rest” (a sense now obsolete); 1650s as “agree tacitly, concur,” from Middle French acquiescer “to yield or agree to; be at rest,” (14c.), from Latin acquiescere/adquiescere “become quiet, remain at rest, rest, repose,” thus “be satisfied with, be content,” from ad “to” (see ad-) + quiescere “become quiet,” from quies (genitive quietis) “rest, quiet” (from PIE root *kweie- “to rest, be quiet”). Related: Acquiesced; acquiescing.

1630s, “rest, quiet, satisfaction,” from Middle French acquiescence, noun of action from acquiescer “to yield or agree to; be at rest” (see acquiesce). Meaning “silent consent, passive assent” is recorded from 1640s.

c. 1400, “to loathe, regard with repugnance, dislike intensely,” literally “to shrink back with horror or dread,” from Latin abhorrere “shrink back from, have an aversion for, shudder at,” from ab “off, away from” (see ab-) + horrere “tremble at, shudder,” literally “to bristle, be shaggy,” from PIE *ghers- “start out, stand out, rise to a point, bristle” (see horror).

Formerly also “fill (someone) with horror or loathing” (16c.). In Latin it was less intense: “be remote from, vary from, differ from, be out of harmony with.” Related: Abhorred; abhorring.

early 15c., “defense, justification,” from Late Latin apologia, from Greek apologia “a speech in defense,” from apologeisthai “to speak in one’s defense,” from apologos “an account, story,” from apo “away from, off” (see apo-) + logos “speech” (see Logos).

In classical Greek, “a well-reasoned reply; a ‘thought-out response’ to the accusations made,” as that of Socrates. The original English sense of “self-justification” yielded a meaning “frank expression of regret for wrong done,” first recorded 1590s, but this was not the main sense until 18c. Johnson’s dictionary defines it as “Defence; excuse,” and adds, “Apology generally signifies rather excuse than vindication, and tends rather to extenuate the fault, than prove innocence,” which might indicate the path of the sense shift. The old sense has tended to shift to the Latin form apologia (1784), known from early Christian writings in defense of the faith.