ETYMOLOGY
from Latin conticentem, present participle of conticere (to be silent or still),
from con- intensive + tacere (to be silent)
EXAMPLE
“… Here they all sit — not in my lord’s grand dining-room, you know, but in the snug study or parlor in front. The cloth has been withdrawn, the General has given the King’s health, the servants have left the room, the guests sit conticent, and so, after a little hemming and blushing, Mr. George proceeds …”
From: The Virginians, a tale of the last century
By William Makepeace Thackeray, 1859
Lexicophilia 