Painkilling

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of easing or diminishing physical suffering and discomfort
2. Having the effect of lessening or soothing bodily ache and soreness
3. Serving to alleviate or reduce the sensation of hurt or distress

Etymology: "Painkilling" is a plain compound: "pain" joined to "killing," the present participle of "kill," so the whole word literally describes something that kills pain. The sense of "kill" here is simply "to put an end to" or "to deaden," which is why the word works for medicines and for anything that numbs discomfort. The more useful way to read it is as a description of a function rather than a thing. Adjectives like this were built on the same pattern as older compounds, where a verb-form stands in front of a noun to say what the noun does, so "painkilling" joins the ranks of similar formations such as "life-saving" or "bug-killing." Its meaning stays transparent because both parts are everyday English words, leaving little room for surprise.

Synonyms: analgesic, anodyne