Assuages

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To reduce the intensity of unpleasant feelings or pain
2. To ease or soothe emotional or physical discomfort
3. To lessen the severity of distress or hardship

Etymology: "Assuages" is the third-person singular form of "assuage," so the verb itself traces back to a Latin word meaning "to sweeten." Its root is "suāvis," meaning "sweet" or "pleasant," the same stem that gives English "suave." The Latin prefix "ad-" ("to" or "toward") was attached, and the resulting verb in Vulgar Latin, "assuāviō," meant "to sweeten, to butter up, to calm." The word passed through Old French "asuagier," meaning "to appease" or "to calm," before entering Middle English as "aswagen." The physical sense of sweetening has faded almost entirely, leaving only the idea of calming someone or something down. Hunger, grief, and thirst are all things a person might assuage, so the verb has long been used for soothing bodily pain as much as troubled feelings.

Synonyms: alleviates, calms, soothes, mitigates, pacifies

Antonyms: intensifies, aggravates, exacerbates