Palliatives

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Means or strategies designed to alleviate or lessen discomfort while not providing a cure
2. Treatment options focused on reducing severity of symptoms rather than addressing the underlying cause
3. Approaches aimed at improving quality of life by managing pain and distress in serious health conditions

Etymology: "Palliatives" is the plural of "palliative," and the key to its history is a cloak. The Latin "pallium" meant a cloak or mantle, and medieval Latin writers used the verb "palliare," to cloak, in the sense of covering something up. From that idea of concealing or disguising came a medical sense: to cover over a disease's symptoms rather than cure it. The adjective passed into French as "palliatif" and then into English, where it kept that sense of soothing without curing. The word therefore grew out of a picture of wrapping something in fabric, and it still carries the notion of masking a problem rather than removing it. The plural names the remedies themselves: treatments that cover over the trouble they cannot cure.

Synonyms: relievers, soothers, alleviators, comforters

Antonyms: aggravators, exacerbators