palliate

To palliate is to make something less painful or unpleasant, or to calm fears.

(verb)

When a medication lessens your pain after surgery or the unpleasant symptoms of a disease, these are examples of when you palliate with medication.
When a police chief calls a press conference and assures the citizens that the robber has been arrested, this is an example of when you palliate fears.

See palliate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

Origin: < pp. of LL palliare, to conceal, cloak, back-form. < L palliatus, cloaked < pallium, a cloak

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See palliate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb pal·li·at·ed, pal·li·at·ing, pal·li·ates

To make (an offense or crime) seem less serious; extenuate.
To make less severe or intense; mitigate: tried unsuccessfully to palliate the widespread discontent.
To relieve the symptoms of a disease or disorder.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English palliaten

Origin: , from Late Latin palliāre, palliāt-, to cloak, palliate

Origin: , from Latin pallium, cloak

Related Forms: