placid, a.
(ˈplæsɪd)
[ad. L. placid-us pleasing, favourable, gentle, mild, calm, f. root of placēre to please; see -id1. Cf. F. placide (15–16th c.).]
1. a. Mild, gentle; calm, peaceful; unruffled, tranquil, still, serene.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §292 It conduceth unto long life, and to the more placid motion of the spirits. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. aaa j b, To the end the placid Fruits of these my Labours..may be..preserved from the turbulent Storms of discontented Spirits. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 217 That placid aspect and meek regard. 1775 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 21 July, That you sit down placid and content, disposed to enjoy the present. 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 93 The..Valley..of Interlaken..is altogether of a placid, pastoral character. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. ix, Fair ship, that from the Italian shore Sailest the placid ocean-plains. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Europe (1894) x. 251 The male population is distinctly of a placid temperament. |
† b. Of peaceful disposition towards another; free from anger or wrath. Obs.
| 1663 Aron-bimn. 23 To make an atonement, to render him placid and gracious. |
† 2. Pleasing, agreeable, welcome. Obs. rare.
| 1627–77 Feltham Resolves i. lix. 92 Those things..are made placid or disgustful, as fond Opinion catches them. |
3. Comb., as placid-browed, placid-eyed, placid-faced, placid-mannered, placid-seeming, placid-tempered adjs.
| 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xiv, A little fat placid-faced old gentleman. 1889 W. B. Yeats Street Dancers in Wanderings of Oisin 132 They will wrap them in the shroud, Sorrow⁓worn, yet placid browed. 1904 R. J. Farrer Garden of Asia xxvii. 280 Placid-tempered is the face of Japan, and to the placid-tempered she presents a calm and dreamy existence of uninterrupted enjoyment. 1909 Daily Chron. 7 Aug. 7/3 The round-faced, placid-eyed, spectacled man of unobtrusive appearance. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Woman who rode Away 63 The large, placid-seeming, fair-complexioned woman. 1936 E. Sitwell Victoria of Eng. i. 26 She [sc. Princess of Leiningen] always..seemed to be moving, placid-tempered and obstinate, in a hurricane of flying feathers and loud-rustling silks. |