assuage

English

WOTD – 29 September 2006

Alternative forms

• asswage (obsolete)

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English aswagen, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French asuagier (“to appease, to calm”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  *assuaviō (“I sweeten, I 'butter up', I calm”), derived from ad- + suavis (“sweet”) + -ō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈsweɪdʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: as‧suage
• Rhymes: -eɪdʒ

Verb

1. (transitive) To lessen the intensity of, to mitigate or relieve (hunger, emotion, pain etc.).
   • Addison

     Refreshing winds the summer's heat assuage.

   • Burke

     to assuage the sorrows of a desolate old man

   • Byron

     the fount at which the panting mind assuages / her thirst of knowledge

   • 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston

     I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost.

2. (transitive) To pacify or soothe (someone).
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To calm down, become less violent (of passion, hunger etc.); to subside, to abate.

Derived terms

• assuagement
• assuager
• unassuaged

Translations

mitigate, relieve

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: облекчавам (bg) (oblekčavam), смекчавам (bg) (smekčavam), успокоявам (bg) (uspokojavam)
• Catalan: assuavir (ca), alleujar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 緩解／缓解 (zh) (huǎnjiě), 缓解 (zh) (huǎnjiě), 減輕／减轻 (zh) (jiǎnqīng), 减轻 (zh) (jiǎnqīng), 緩和／缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé), 缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé), 平息 (zh) (píngxī), 充飢／充饥 (zh) (chōngjī), 充饥 (zh) (chōngjī), 解渴 (zh) (jiěkě)

• Dutch: troosten (nl), verzachten (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: lievittää (fi)
• French: assouvir (fr), soulager (fr), apaiser (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: csillapít (hu)
• Interlingue:
• Japanese: 和らげる (やわらげる, yawarageru)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: lēniō
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Occitan: mitigar, calmar, apasimar (oc), abaucar (oc)
• Portuguese: mitigar (pt)
• Romanian: alina (ro)
• Russian: уменьша́ть (ru) (umenʹšátʹ), смягча́ть (ru) (smjaxčátʹ)
• Scots: dill, mease, (hunger, thirst) suage
• Spanish: (feelings) calmar (es), (pain) aliviar (es), (passion) mitigar (es), (desire) satisfacer (es)
• Swedish: lindra (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: yatıştırmak (tr), dindirmek (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

pacify

• Bulgarian: успокоявам (bg) (uspokojavam), уталожвам (bg) (utaložvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使平靜／使平静, 使平静 (shǐ píngjìng), 安慰 (zh) (ānwèi), 撫慰／抚慰 (zh) (fǔwèi), 抚慰 (zh) (fǔwèi), 平定 (zh) (píngdìng), 安撫／安抚 (zh) (ānfǔ), 安抚 (zh) (ānfǔ)

• Finnish: rauhoittaa (fi), rauhoitella (fi)
• French: apaiser (fr), calmer (fr)
• German: besänftigen (de), beschwichtigen (de)
• Hebrew: לשכך (Leshakech)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Occitan: apasimar (oc), calmar
• Portuguese: acalmar (pt)
• Russian: успока́ивать (ru) impf (uspokáivatʹ), успоко́ить (ru) pf (uspokóitʹ)
• Scots: mease, cowshin
• Spanish: apaciguar (es), sosegar (es), calmar (es)
• Swedish: lugna (sv)
• Turkish: yatıştırmak (tr), dindirmek (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Kurdish: , , , ,
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

References

• “assuage”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “assuage”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “assuage”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• sausage

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Middle English

Verb

assuage

1. Alternative form of aswagen