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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:
before 1000; Middle English aleyen, Old English ālecgan to put down, allay (ā- a-3 + lecgan to lay1); spelling -ll- shows influence of the now obsolete allege (< Anglo-French, Old French aleg(i)er; see allege) to alleviate, allay
before 1000; Middle English aleyen, Old English ālecgan to put down, allay (ā- a-3 + lecgan to lay1); spelling -ll- shows influence of the now obsolete allege (< Anglo-French, Old French aleg(i)er; see allege) to alleviate, allay
Related forms
al·lay·er, noun
un·al·layed, adjective
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.
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.
1. excite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Allaying
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
Etymonline
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
EXPANDsenses of Romanic-derived alloy and allege, especially the latter in an obs. sense of "to lighten," from L. ad- "to" + levis (see lever).
COLLAPSE
"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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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