mid-15c., "pacification," from Middle French apeisement, Old French apaisement "appeasement, calming," noun of action from apaisier "pacify, make peace, placate" (see appease). First recorded 1919 in international political sense; not pejorative until the failure of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy toward Germany in 1939 (methods of appeasement was Chamberlain's description of his policy).
