allay
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allay
- /əˈleɪ/
Rhymes with -eɪ
Where it comes from
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.
verb allays · allaying · allayed · alay
- To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm. to allay popular excitement
- To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate. to allay the severity of affliction or the bitterness of adversity
- To subside, abate, become peaceful. And the wynde alayed, and there folowed a greate calme: and he sayde unto them: why are ye fearfull?
- To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate.
- To make worse by the introduction of inferior elements. Yet far be it from us to condemn all their works to be dross, because debased and allayed with superstitious intents […]
noun allays · alay
- Alleviation; abatement; check.
- An alloy.
