allay

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English alayen, aleyen, aleggen, from Old English āleċġan (“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 𐌿𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (uslagjan, “to lay down”). In Middle English the word was identical to forms of allege and alloy, leading to much overlapping of senses.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈleɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

Verb

allay (third-person singular simple present allays, present participle allaying, simple past and past participle allayed)

  1. (transitive) 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
  2. (transitive) To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate.
    to allay the severity of affliction or the bitterness of adversity
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To subside, abate, become peaceful.
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark IV:
      And the wynde alayed, and there folowed a greate calme: and he sayde unto them: why are ye fearfull?
    • Shakespeare
      When the rage allays.
  4. (archaic) To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate.
  5. (archaic, by extension) To make worse by the introduction of inferior elements.
    • 1639, Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warr:
      Yet far be it from us to condemn all their works to be dross, because debased and allayed with superstitious intents […]

Synonyms

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  • alleviate; check; repress; assuage; appease; abate; subdue; destroy; compose; soothe; calm; quiet

Translations

Noun

allay

  1. alleviation; abatement; check

References

  • allay in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

Quechua

Noun

allay

  1. harvest or digging up of potatoes or tubers

Declension

Verb

allay

  1. (transitive) to dig, dig up, dig out, excavate; to harvest tubers

Conjugation

See also

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