anodyne
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Latin anōdynus (“painless”), from Ancient Greek ἀνώδυνος (anōdynos, “free from pain”), from ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ὀδύνη (odynē, “pain”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Adjective [edit]
anodyne (comparative more anodyne, superlative most anodyne)
- Capable of soothing or eliminating pain. [from 16th c.]
- 1847, Littell's Living Age, number 161, 12 June 1847, in Volume 13, page 483:
- Many a time has the vapor of ether been inhaled for the relief of oppressed lungs; many a time has the sought relief been thus obtained; and just so many times has the discovery of the wonderful anodyne properties of this gas, as affecting all bodily suffering, been brushed past and overlooked.
- 1910, Edward L. Keyes, Diseases of the Genito-Urinary Organs, page 211:
- The citrate is the most efficient as an alkali, but irritates some stomachs, the liquor the most anodyne, the acetate the most diuretic.
- 1847, Littell's Living Age, number 161, 12 June 1847, in Volume 13, page 483:
- (figuratively) Soothing or relaxing. [from 18th c.]
- Classical music is rather anodyne.
- Noncontentious, blandly agreeable, unlikely to cause offence or debate; bland, inoffensive. [from 20th c.]
- 2003, The Guardian, 20 May 2003:
- It all became so routine, so anodyne, so dull.
- 2010, "Rattled", The Economist, 9 Dec 2010:
- States typically like to stick to anodyne messages, like saving wildflowers or animals. But every so often a controversy crops up.
- 2003, The Guardian, 20 May 2003:
Translations [edit]
capable of soothing or eliminating pain
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soothing or relaxing
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noncontentious, blandly agreeable
Noun [edit]
anodyne (plural anodynes)
- (pharmacology) Any medicine or other agent that relieves pain.
- (figuratively) A source of relaxation or comfort.
- 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. VII:
- The air was heavy with the perfume of the flowers, and their beauty seemed to bring him an anodyne for his pain.
- 1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, page 79:
- So, with a sigh, because novels so often provide an anodyne and not an antidote, glide one into torpid slumbers instead of rousing one with a burning brand.
- 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. VII:
Translations [edit]
any medicine or other agent that relieves pain
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a source of relaxation or comfort
Derived terms [edit]
References [edit]
- anodyne in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- “anodyne” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
