Assuage - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: Assuage

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

as·suage

Audio Help [uh-sweyj, uh-sweyzh] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -suaged, -suag·ing.

1.	to make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate: to assuage one's grief; to assuage one's pain.

2.	to appease; satisfy; allay; relieve: to assuage one's hunger.

3.	to soothe, calm, or mollify: to assuage his fears; to assuage her anger.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME aswagen < OF asouagier < VL *assuāviāre, equiv. to L as- as- + -suāviāre, v. deriv. of L suāvis agreeable to the taste, pleasant (cf. suave; akin to sweet)

]

—Related forms

as·suage·ment, noun

as·suag·er, noun

—Synonyms 1. alleviate, lessen.

—Antonyms intensify.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Assuage

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

as·suage Audio Help (ə-swāj') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. as·suaged, as·suag·ing, as·suag·es

To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe: assuage her grief. See Synonyms at relieve.
To satisfy or appease (hunger or thirst, for example).
To pacify or calm: assuage their chronic insecurity.

[Middle English asswagen, from Old French assuagier, from Vulgar Latin *assuāviāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin suāvis, sweet, delightful; see swād- in Indo-European roots.]

as·suage'ment n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
assuage

c.1300, from O.Fr. asouagier, from V.L. *adsuaviare, from L. ad- "to" + suavis "sweet, agreeable" (see sweet).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

assuage
verb
1.	cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; "She managed to mollify the angry customer" [syn: pacify]
2.	satisfy (thirst); "The cold water quenched his thirst" [syn: quench]
3.	provide physical relief, as from pain; "This pill will relieve your headaches" [syn: relieve]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Assuage

Al*le"vi*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Alleviated; p. pr. & vb. n. Alleviating.] [LL. alleviare, fr. L. ad + levis light. See Alegge, Levity.]

1. To lighten or lessen the force or weight of. [Obs.]

Should no others join capable to alleviate the expense. --Evelyn.

Those large bladders . . . conduce much to the alleviating of the body [of flying birds]. --Ray.

2. To lighten or lessen (physical or mental troubles); to mitigate, or make easier to be endured; as, to alleviate sorrow, pain, care, etc.; -- opposed to aggravate.

The calamity of the want of the sense of hearing is much alleviated by giving the use of letters. --Bp. Horsley.

3. To extenuate; to palliate. [R.]

He alleviates his fault by an excuse. --Johnson.

Syn: To lessen; diminish; soften; mitigate; assuage; abate; relieve; nullify; allay.

Usage: To Alleviate, Mitigate, Assuage, Allay. These words have in common the idea of relief from some painful state; and being all figurative, they differ in their application, according to the image under which this idea is presented. Alleviate supposes a load which is lightened or taken off; as, to alleviate one's cares. Mitigate supposes something fierce which is made mild; as, to mitigate one's anguish. Assuage supposes something violent which is quieted; as, to assuage one's sorrow. Allay supposes something previously excited, but now brought down; as, to allay one's suffering or one's thirst. To alleviate the distresses of life; to mitigate the fierceness of passion or the violence of grief; to assuage angry feeling; to allay wounded sensibility.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Assuage

As*suage"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assuaged; p. pr. & vb. n. Assuaging.] [OE. asuagen, aswagen, OF. asoagier, asuagier, fr. assouagier, fr. L. ad + suavis sweet. See Sweet.] To soften, in a figurative sense; to allay, mitigate, ease, or lessen, as heat, pain, or grief; to appease or pacify, as passion or tumult; to satisfy, as appetite or desire.

Refreshing winds the summer's heat assuage. --Addison.

To assuage the sorrows of a desolate old man --Burke.

The fount at which the panting mind assuages Her thirst of knowledge. --Byron.

Syn: To alleviate; mitigate; appease; soothe; calm; tranquilize; relieve. See Alleviate.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

assuage

assuage was Word of the Day on May 23, 1999.

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