makepeaces

Noun

makepeace (plural makepeaces)

1. (rare) A peacemaker; one who reconciles persons at variance with one another; a composer of strife; an adjuster of differences.
   • To be a make-peace shall become my age / Throw down, my son, the Duke of Norfolk's gage.c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 1, scene 1
2. (obsolete) A stick, rod or bundle of twigs made from birch wood, used for corporal punishment.
   • The civill uſes whereunto the Birch-tree ſerveth are many, as for the puniſhment of Children both at home and at School, for it hath an admirable influence upon them, to quiet them when they are out of Order, and therefore ſome call it Make-peace: The old Roman Magiſirates had it born in bundles...1657, William Coles, chapter CCCXX, in Adam in Eden: Or, Natures Paradiſe, page 594

   Synonyms:

   birch, switch

See all 4 meanings of makepeace