assuage

Definition

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

Etymology

From Middle English aswagen, from Old French asuagier (“to appease, to calm”), from Vulgar Latin *assuāviō (“I sweeten, I butter up, I calm”), derived from Latin ad- + suāvis (“sweet”) + -iō.

Example Sentences

• "Refreshing winds the summer's heat assuage."
• "to assuage the sorrows of a desolate old man"
• "the fount at which the panting mind assuages her thirst of knowledge"