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allay

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al⋅lay

  [uh-ley]
Use allay in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -layed, -lay⋅ing.
1. to put (fear, doubt, suspicion, anger, etc.) to rest; calm; quiet.
2. to lessen or relieve; mitigate; alleviate: to allay pain.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME aleyen, OE ālecgan to put down, allay (ā- a- 3 + lecgan to lay 1 ); sp. -ll- shows influence of the now obs. allege (< AF, OF aleg(i)er; see allege ) to alleviate, allay

Related forms:
al⋅lay⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. soften, assuage. Allay, moderate, soothe mean to reduce excitement or emotion. To allay is to lay to rest or lull to a sense of security, possibly by making the emotion seem unjustified: to allay suspicion, anxiety, fears. To moderate is to tone down any excess and thus to restore calm: to moderate the expression of one's grief. To soothe is to exert a pacifying or tranquilizing influence: to soothe a terrified child. 2. lighten, mollify, temper, ease.

Antonyms:
1. excite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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al·lay   (ə-lā')   
tr.v.   al·layed, al·lay·ing, al·lays

  1. To reduce the intensity of; relieve: allay back pains. See Synonyms at relieve.

  2. To calm or pacify; set to rest: allayed the fears of the worried citizens.


[Middle English aleien, from Old English ālecgan, to lay down : ā-, intensive pref. + lecgan, to lay; see lay1.]
al·lay'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

allay 
O.E. alecgan "to put down, remit, give up," a Gmc. compound (cf. Goth. uslagjan, O.H.G. irleccan, Ger. erlegen), from a- "down, aside" + lecgan "to lay" (see lay). Pronunciations of early M.E. -y- and -g- were not always distinct, and the word was confused in M.E. with various senses of Romanic-derived alloy and allege, especially the latter in an obs. sense of "to lighten," from L. ad- "to" + levis.
"Amid the overlapping of meanings that thus arose, there was developed a perplexing network of uses of allay and allege, that belong entirely to no one of the original vbs., but combine the senses of two or more of them." [OED]
The double -l- is 17c., a mistaken Latinism.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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