allay

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.
2. (transitive) To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate.
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To subside, abate, become peaceful.
4. (archaic) To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate.
5. (archaic, broadly) To make worse by the introduction of inferior elements.

Noun

1. Alleviation; abatement; check.
2. (obsolete) An alloy.

Synonyms

relieve

alleviate

assuage

soothe

ease

mitigate

calm

still

appease

palliate

pacify

quiet

blunt

dull

reduce

soften

quench

lessen

moderate

remove

abate

hush

slake

mollify

diminish

extenuate

quieten

silence

temper

lull

tranquilize

cure

satisfy

damp

remit

dispel

mute

🔇

shout down

smooth

smooth out

smooth over

solace

stanch

staunch

stay

subdue

suffice

suppress

sweeten

tone down

Translations

aliviar

apaiser

dämpfen

aliviar

calmar

mitigar

stumpf machen

amortecer

bot maken

adoçar

abstumpfen

afstompen

soulager

embotar

mildern

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əˈleɪ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: alayen

Inherited from Old English: āleċġan

Cognate with German: erlegen

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌿𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽

In summary

From Middle English alayen, aleyen, aleggen, from Old English āleċġan (“to put, place, lay down, lay aside, throw down, give up, cease from, abandon; put down, allay, suppress, abolish, conquer, destroy, overcome, refute; lay upon, inflict, impose upon; diminish, take away, refuse, lessen, withhold”), from Proto-Germanic *uzlagjaną (“to lay down”), equivalent to a- + lay. Cognate with German erlegen (“to impose, cause to succumb, kill”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (uslagjan, “to lay down”). In Middle English the word was identical to forms of allege and alloy, leading to much overlapping of senses.