placate (2009-04-22)

Part of Speech: verb

Pronunciation: ['pley-keyt]

Definition: Pacify, soothe, or mollify.

Usage: Even the most irascible can eventually be placated, though difficult cases do arise: "Nothing you say will placate Murray; he's convinced you were the one who put the catnip in his sleeping bag before the tiger hunt." Don't forget the lexical relatives of today's word, "I don't think Murray would consider, 'Maybe you didn't deserve it,' a placatory overture, let alone an apology."

Suggested Usage: Someone who placates is a placater and is by nature placative ['plækêtiv] or placatory ['plækêtori]. Those who can be placated are placable ['plækêbêl] and those who cannot, are implacable [im-'plækêbêl. We at yourDictionary hope you never have to placate the implacable (unless you have an implacable desire for frustration).

Etymology: From Latin placare "to calm." The root originates in PIE *plak "to be flat, to smooth out" hence "placate." "Placebo," "placid," and "pleasant" are all derivatives of the Latin stem via various routes. In Germanic languages like English, PIE [*p] became [f], so "flag," "flake," and "fluke" (as in liver fluke) are what this root became in English. There was a nasalized variant of this root, *pla-n-k- which shows up in Latin plancus "flat, flat-footed" from which English borrowed "plank." (For more on PIE, see our FAQ sheet, linked to the home page.)