# quell

> English word · Verb · IPA /kwɛl/ · frequency rank #29,052

## Definitions
1. To subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit.
2. To suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish.
3. To kill.
4. To be subdued or abated; to diminish.
5. To die.

## Etymology
From Middle English quellen, from Old English cwellan (“to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwaljaną (“to make die; kill”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-. Cognate with German quälen (“to torment; agonise; smite”), Swedish kvälja (“to torment”), Icelandic kvelja (“to torture; torment”). Compare also Old Armenian կեղ (keł, “sore, ulcer”), Old Church Slavonic жаль (žalĭ, “pain”). See also kill, which may be its doublet.

## Easily confused with
- **quest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/quell-vs-quest)
- **queue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/quell-vs-queue)
- **query** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/quell-vs-query)
- **quilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/quell-vs-quilt)
- **quill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/quell-vs-quill)
- **que** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/que-vs-quell)
- **qual** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/qual-vs-quell)
- **queen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/queen-vs-quell)
- **queer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/queer-vs-quell)
- **quail** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/quail-vs-quell)

## Common misspellings (5)
`qeull`, `qquell`, `quel`, `qulel`, `uqell`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/quell