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soothe - 4 dictionary results

soothe

[sooth] verb, soothed, sooth⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to tranquilize or calm, as a person or the feelings; relieve, comfort, or refresh: soothing someone's anger; to soothe someone with a hot drink.
2. to mitigate, assuage, or allay, as pain, sorrow, or doubt: to soothe sunburned skin.
–verb (used without object)
3. to exert a soothing influence; bring tranquillity, calm, ease, or comfort.

Origin:
bef. 950; ME sothen to verify, OE sōthian, equiv. to sōth sooth + -ian inf. suffix; mod. E sense shift “to verify” > “to support (a person's statement)” > “to encourage” > “to calm”


soother, noun


1. See comfort, allay. 2. alleviate, appease, mollify.


1. upset, roil.
soothe   (sōōth)   
v.   soothed, sooth·ing, soothes

v.   tr.
  1. To calm or placate.
  2. To ease or relieve (pain, for example).
v.   intr.
To bring comfort, composure, or relief.

[Middle English sothen, to verify, from Old English sōthian, from sōth, true; see es- in Indo-European roots.]
sooth'er n.

Soothe

Soothe\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Soothed; p. pr. & vb. n. Soothing.] [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so?ien to verify, AS. ges??ian to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]

1. To assent to as true. [Obs.] --Testament of Love.

2. To assent to; to comply with; to gratify; to humor by compliance; to please with blandishments or soft words; to flatter.

Good, my lord, soothe him, let him take the fellow. --Shak.

I've tried the force of every reason on him, Soothed and caressed, been angry, soothed again. --Addison.

3. To assuage; to mollify; to calm; to comfort; as, to soothe a crying child; to soothe one's sorrows.

Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak. --Congreve.

Though the sound of Fame May for a moment soothe, it can not slake The fever of vain longing. --Byron.

Syn: To soften; assuage; allay; compose; mollify; tranquilize; pacify; mitigate.
Language Translation for : soothe
Spanish: calmar, tranquilizar,
German: besänftigen,
Japanese: なだめる

soothe 
O.E. soðian "show to be true," from soð "true" (see sooth). Sense of "quiet, comfort, mollify" is first recorded 1697, on notion of "to assuage one by asserting that what he says is true" (i.e. to be a yes-man), a sense attested from 1568.
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