Allay Definition

ə-lā
allayed, allaying, allays
verb
allayed, allaying, allays
To calm or pacify (an emotion); set to rest.
Allayed the fears of the worried citizens.
American Heritage
To put (fears, etc.) to rest; quiet; calm.
Webster's New World
To reduce the intensity of; lessen or relieve.
Allay the threat of social unrest; allay skin irritation.
American Heritage
To lessen, relieve, or alleviate (pain, grief, etc.)
Webster's New World

To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.

To allay popular excitement.
To allay the tumult of the passions.
Wiktionary
noun
Synonyms:

Origin of Allay

  • From Middle English alayen, aleyen, aleggen, from Old English ālecgan (“to put, place, lay down, lay aside, throw down, give up, cease from, abandon; put down, allay, suppress, abolish, conquer, destroy, overcome, refute; lay upon, inflict, impose upon; diminish, take away, refuse, lessen, withhold”), from Proto-Germanic *uzlagjaną (“to lay down”), equivalent to a- +‎ lay. Cognate with German erlegen (“to impose, cause to succumb, kill”), Gothic [script?] (uslagjan, “to lay down”). In Middle English the word was identical to forms of allege and alloy, leading to much overlapping of senses. [script?]

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English aleien from Old English ālecgan to lay aside, lay down ā- intensive pref. lecgan to lay lay1

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to allay using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

allay