lull

C2 Topic:Time

US /lʌl/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like loll /ʌ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #25514

Meanings

1

noun
a period of calm weather

There was a lull in the storm.
2

verb
become quiet or less intensive

The fighting lulled for a moment.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a period of calm weather quiet

2 verb · become quiet or less intensive calm down

More breather hiatus

Opposites

awaken flurry rouse waken gust uprouse

Word family

Forms lulledlullinglulls

Derived forms belulllullablelullabylullerlullfullullinglylullsomeunlulled

Etymology

From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”). Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).

*leh₂- Proto-Indo-European lullen Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Time

External links

# lull

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /lʌl/
**Frequency rank:** 25514

## Meanings
1. a period of calm weather
2. become quiet or less intensive

## Examples
- There was a lull in the storm.
- The fighting lulled for a moment.

## Synonyms
- quiet
- calm down
- breather
- hiatus

## Antonyms
- awaken
- flurry
- rouse
- waken
- gust
- uprouse

## Derived Forms
- belull
- lullable
- lullaby
- luller
- lullful
- lullingly
- lullsome
- unlulled

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *leh₂-
- Root: lullen

## Etymology
From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”). Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).

## Topics
- Time

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