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Origin and history of quench

quench(v.)

Middle English quenchen, "to extinguish, put out" (heat, light, fire, also of desire, hunger, thirst), also figurative, "to bring to naught, eliminate, render ineffectual" (c. 1200), Old English acwencan "to quench" (of fire, light), from Proto-Germanic *kwenkjanan, probably a causative form from the source of Old English cwincan "to go out, be extinguished," Old Frisian kwinka.

No certain cognates outside Germanic; perhaps a substratum word. Especially "to cool or extinguish by means of cold water," hence "to drench in water" (late 15c.). Related: Quenched; quenching.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to quench

quelch(v.)

1650s, a shortening of squelch, perhaps influenced by quench. Related: Quelched; quelching.

unquenchable(adj.)

late 14c. of fire, "inextinguishable," also figurative; 1560s of thirst; from un- (1) "not" + quench (v.) + -able. Related: Unquenchably. Unquenched "unextinguished" is from late 12c.

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    quell
    Middle English quellen "to kill" (a person or animal), from Old English cwellan "to kill, cause to die; murder, execute," from Proto-Germanic *kwaljanan (source also of Old English cwelan "to die," cwalu "violent death;" Old Saxon quellian "to torture, kill;" Old Norse kvelja "to
    slake
    Middle English slaken, from late Old English sleacian, slacian "become slack or remiss; relax an effort" (intransitive); "delay, retard" (transitive), from slæc "lax" (see slack (adj.), and compare Middle Dutch, Middle Low German slaken). The transitive sense of "make slack, loos
    allay
    "put down, quiet, assuage, pacify," Middle English alegen, from Old English alecgan "to put, place, put down; remit, give up, suppress, abolish; diminish, lessen," from a- "down, aside" (see a- (1)) + lecgan "to lay" (see lay (v.)). A common Germanic compound (cognates: Gothic us
    marasmus
    wasting away of the body," 1650s, Modern Latin, from Greek marasmos "a wasting away, withering, decay," from marainein "to quench...
    repel
    early 15c., "to drive away, remove, quench" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French repeller and directly from Latin repellere...
    asbestos
    Greek asbestos, literally "inextinguishable," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + sbestos, verbal adjective from sbennynai "to quench...," from PIE root *(s)gwes- "to quench, extinguish" (source also of Lithuanian gesti "to go out," Old Church Slavonic gaso...
    amaranth
    literally "unfading, undecaying," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + stem of marainein "die away, waste away, decay, wither; quench...
    satisfy
    early 15c., satisfien, "do penance," also "appease, assuage;" also "fulfill (a desire), comply with (a command), satiate (a hunger or thirst)," from Old French satisfiier "pay, repay, make reparation" (14c., Modern French satisfaire), from Latin satisfacere "discharge fully, comp
    put-out
    "offended, angry, upset," by 1887, from the verbal phrase in the sense of "offend," attested by 1822; see put (v.) + out (adv.). Perhaps via the earlier sense of "cause to lose self-possession, disconcert" (1580s). The verbal phrase is from mid-14c. as "drive out, banish, exile;"
    blackout
    also black-out, 1908 in the theatrical sense of a darkened stage, from the verbal phrase; see black (v.) + out (adv.). The figurative sense of "loss of memory" is by 1934 (verb and noun); as "a dousing of lights as an air raid precaution," it is recorded from 1935. The verbal phr

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