Definition of "stilly"

The stilly murmur of the distant SeaTells us of silence.

1795, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Eolian Harp, lines 11–12

The dead--in holy, stilly peace, the sacred dead repose, Afar from earth's turmoil and grief, and all of sick'ning woes; From racking pain, and withering pride, and avarice's care, Secure they rest in solitude, unaw'd by sin or snare.

1828, Various, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12,‎

Long was the darkness, Lonely and stilly.

1879, Anthony Trollope, Thackeray‎

Crickets sang of nights in the stilly cabins, and in the sunshine mosquitoes crept from out hollow logs […] .

1902, Jack London, A Daughter of the Snows‎

[…] Marjorie used Central to call as many of her neighbors that were also on the exchange as she could, telling them of the disaster which had fallen like a lightning-stroke out of a clear sky, knowing that each call would produce overlapping ripples, like pebbles tossed rapidly into a stilly pond.

1996, Stephen King, chapter 4, in The Green Mile, Pocket Books edition

She passed away very stilly and painlessly.

1868, George A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone;‎

The river, too, was colored, and every tree was like a torch burning stilly in the quiet of the evening.

1902, Mary Johnston, Audrey‎

When she arrived at the white boat which floated so stilly on the morning glitter of the water, only just stirred by a breeze from the south, she stepped at once on board.

1921, S.R. Crockett, Bog-Myrtle and Peat‎