Assuage
/əˈsweɪdʒ/noun
To make an unpleasant feeling, need, or pain less intense.
Did you know?Assuage comes through Old French from Latin ex- + suavis, literally tied to making something “sweet” or agreeable again—language as a soothing spell.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*swād-
“sweet, pleasant”
Latin
Latin
suāvis
“sweet, agreeable”
Late Latin
Latin
exsuāviāre
“to make sweet, to soften”
Old French
Old French
assoagier
“to soften, calm, appease”
Middle English
English
asswagen
“to ease, relieve”
Modern English
English
assuage
“to make less intense or severe”