appease

[uh-peez] /əˈpiz/
verb (used with object), appeased, appeasing.
1.
to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe:
to appease an angry king.
2.
to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage:
The fruit appeased his hunger.
3.
to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English apesen < Anglo-French apeser, Old French apais(i)er, equivalent to a- a-5 + paisi- peace + -er infinitive suffix
Related forms
appeasable, adjective
appeasableness, noun
appeasably, adverb
appeasement, noun
appeaser, noun
appeasingly, adverb
nonappeasable, adjective
nonappeasing, adjective
unappeasable, adjective
unappeasably, adverb
unappeased, adjective
unappeasing, adjective
unappeasingly, adverb
Synonyms
1. calm, placate. 3. Appease, conciliate, propitiate imply trying to preserve or obtain peace. To appease is to make anxious overtures and often undue concessions to satisfy the demands of someone with a greed for power, territory, etc.: Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler at Munich. To conciliate is to win an enemy or opponent over by displaying a willingness to be just and fair: When mutual grievances are recognized, conciliation is possible. To propitiate is to admit a fault, and, by trying to make amends, to allay hostile feeling: to propitiate an offended neighbor.
Antonyms
1. enrage. 2. increase, arouse, sharpen. 3. defy.
British Dictionary definitions for appeasement

appeasement

/əˈpiːzmənt/
noun
1.
the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace
2.
the act of appeasing

appease

/əˈpiːz/
verb (transitive)
1.
to calm, pacify, or soothe, esp by acceding to the demands of
2.
to satisfy or quell (an appetite or thirst, etc)
Derived Forms
appeasable, adjective
appeaser, noun
Word Origin
C16: from Old French apaisier, from pais peace, from Latin pax
Word Origin and History for appeasement
n.

mid-15c., "pacification," from Middle French apeisement, Old French apaisement "appeasement, calming," noun of action from apaisier (see appease). First recorded 1919 in international political sense; not pejorative until failure of Chamberlain's policy toward Germany in 1939 (Methods of appeasement was Chamberlain's description of his policy).

appease

v.

c.1300 "to reconcile," from Anglo-French apeser, Old French apaisier "to pacify, make peace, appease, be reconciled, placate" (12c.), from the phrase a paisier "bring to peace," from a "to" (see ad-) + pais, from Latin pacem (nominative pax) "peace" (see peace). Related: Appeased; appeasing.

appeasement in Culture

appeasement definition


A political policy of conceding to aggression by a warlike nation.

Note: A classic example of appeasement is the Munich Pact of 1938, negotiated between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler. Chamberlain, the prime minister of Britain, allowed Hitler to annex part of Czechoslovakia to Germany.