noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English stilnesse, from Old English stilnes, from stille, adjective, still + -nes -ness
1.
a. : freedom from agitation : calmness , serenity
brings with her beauty … a capacity for stillness and repose — E.R.Bentley
b. : absence of movement : immobility , lifelessness
the stillness is so absolute that it seems as if all the winds of the world had … dropped out of the air — J.C.Powys
2.
a. : the quality or state of being soundless : quiet , silence
knew by the stillness and the tenseness that we had reached the outer fringe of the front — Burgess Scott
b. : a soundless place or environment
polar bears roam the great white stillnesses
3. obsolete : patience , fortitude
in peace … nothing so becomes a man, as modest stillness — Shakespeare