peace

From Middle English pees, pes, pais, borrowed from Anglo-Norman peis and Old French pais (“peace”), from Latin pāx (“peace”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, stick, place”), related to Latin pacīscor (“agree, stipulate”), Latin pangō (“fasten, fix”); see pact. Doublet of pax. Displaced native Old English sibb and broadly ousted friþ (modern frith).

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːs/, [ˈpʰɪi̯s]

  • Audio (Received Pronunciation):

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  • Audio (General American):

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• Rhymes: -iːs
• Hyphenation: peace
• Homophone: piece

peace (usually uncountable, plural peaces)

2. A state of tranquility, quiet, and harmony. For instance, a state free from civil disturbance.

   Synonyms: (poetic) frith; see also Thesaurus:calm

   Antonyms: disruption, noise, irritation

   Our lounge strives to maintain an environment of peace for the comfort of our customers.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:34:

     *Thinke not that I am come to ſend peace on earth: I came not to ſend peace, but a ſword.

   • 2001, Carol Stream, Unshaken:

     Naomi boasted in nothing but the God of Israel. And she found peace even in the midst of chaos when she went to Him in prayer.

3. A feeling of tranquility, free from oppressive and unpleasant thoughts and emotions.

   The safety equipment will give me some peace of mind.

4. (figuratively, euphemistic) Death.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 53:

     ’Twere best at once to sink to peace,
     ⁠Like birds the charming serpent draws,
     ⁠To drop head-foremost in the jaws
     Of vacant darkness and to cease.

5. Harmony in personal relations.
6. A state free of war, in particular war between different countries.

   Antonyms: war, violence

   • 1969 March 31, John Lennon, Bagism Press Conference at Sacher Hotel, Vienna

     Now, a lot of cynics have said, “Oh, it’s easy to sit in bed for seven days,” but I’d like some of them to try it, and talk for seven days about peace. All we’re saying is give peace a chance.

   • 1993, Mark Berry as "King Harkinian", a character in Animation Magic, Link: The Faces of Evil, Philips Interactive Media (publ.).

     My boy, this peace is what all true warriors strive for.

   • 1996, Oliver Lindsay, Once a Grenadier: The Grenadier Guards 1945-1995, page 374:

     An uneasy peace descended upon Northern Ireland when the IRA agreed to a ceasefire in August 1994.

   • 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. […] One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.

   May there be peace in our time.

English terms starting with “peace”

• pacific
• pacify
• pacification
• pacifism
• pacifist

peace

1. (archaic) Shut up!, silence!; be quiet, be silent.
   • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     “Hark!” said the old woman, triumphantly. “I hear a step coming. […] Do you hear him?”
     “I believe you are right, mother,” replied Alice, in a low voice. “Peace! open the door.”

   • 1882, Mark Twain, chapter 6, in The Prince and the Pauper:

     "Peace, my lord, thou utterest treason! Hast forgot the king's command? Remember I am party to thy crime, if I but listen."

2. (slang) Peace out; goodbye.

peace (third-person singular simple present peaces, present participle peacing, simple past and past participle peaced)

1. To make peace; to put at peace; to be at peace.
   • 1997, Yusuf Jah, Shah'Keyah Jah, Uprising, page 49:

     Within every hood they have to be peacing with themselves. Then when you're living in peace with yourself, [...]

   • 2006, Wayne Grady, Bringing back the dodo: lessons in natural and unnatural history:

     In another northern species, ptarmigan, such a see-saw pattern between warring and peacing has indeed been observed by researchers.

2. (slang) To peace out.
   • 2012, Jens Lapidus, Easy Money:

     Fuck, man. Yeah, I know. He crashed with this guy, Eddie. Then the cops called me in. That's when he peaced. I swear on my father's grave, I don't know where he went. I swear.

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “peace”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “peace”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.