Allayment

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of diminishing the harshness or severity of a situation occurs through efforts aimed at providing relief from distress or concern
2. An approach that mitigates difficult situations by temporarily easing suffering or emotional struggle while offering comfort and reassurance
3. The act of making a difficult or intense situation less severe ; the provision of comfort that eases physical or emotional pain

Etymology: Allayment is a simple formation: the verb "allay" with the suffix "-ment" added. "Allay" comes from Old English "āleċġan", meaning to lay down or put down, built from the prefix "ā-" (a strengthening or intensifying element) and "lecgan", "to lay". Its sense of quieting or calming, as in soothing a fear or pain, grew out of that idea of laying something to rest. The suffix does the grammatical work. "-ment" comes through Old French from Latin "-mentum", which formed nouns denoting the result or means of an action, so an allayment is the act of allaying or the thing that does it. English has many such pairs, such as "payment" and "ement" related forms like "amazement".

Synonyms: relief, alleviation, soothing, mitigation

Antonyms: aggravation, intensification, exacerbation