stilly

English

Etymology 1

Adjective

stilly (comparative stillier, superlative stilliest)

1. silent; calm
   • 1795, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Eolian Harp, lines 11–12:

     The stilly murmur of the distant Sea
     Tells us of silence.

   • 1828, Various, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12,‎^[1]:

     The dead--in holy, stilly peace, the sacred dead repose, Afar from earth's turmoil and grief, and all of sick'ning woes; From racking pain, and withering pride, and avarice's care, Secure they rest in solitude, unaw'd by sin or snare.

   • 1879, Anthony Trollope, Thackeray‎^[2]:

     Long was the darkness, Lonely and stilly.

   • 1902, Jack London, A Daughter of the Snows‎^[3]:

     Crickets sang of nights in the stilly cabins, and in the sunshine mosquitoes crept from out hollow logs […] .

   • 1996, Stephen King, chapter 4, in The Green Mile, Pocket Books edition:

     […] Marjorie used Central to call as many of her neighbors that were also on the exchange as she could, telling them of the disaster which had fallen like a lightning-stroke out of a clear sky, knowing that each call would produce overlapping ripples, like pebbles tossed rapidly into a stilly pond.

Etymology 2

From still ‎ -ly.

Adverb

stilly (comparative more stilly, superlative most stilly)

1. While still and calm.
   • 1868, George A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone;‎^[4]:

     She passed away very stilly and painlessly.

   • 1902, Mary Johnston, Audrey‎^[5]:

     The river, too, was colored, and every tree was like a torch burning stilly in the quiet of the evening.

   • 1921, S.R. Crockett, Bog-Myrtle and Peat‎^[6]:

     When she arrived at the white boat which floated so stilly on the morning glitter of the water, only just stirred by a breeze from the south, she stepped at once on board.