soothe
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soothe
- /suːð/
Rhymes with -uːð
Where it comes from
From Middle English sothen (“to verify, prove the validity of”), from Old English sōþian (“to verify, prove, confirm, bear witness to”), from Proto-West Germanic *sanþōn, from Proto-Germanic *sanþōną (“to prove, certify, acknowledge, testify”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Cognate with Danish sande (“to verify”), Swedish sanna (“to verify”), Icelandic sanna (“to verify”). See also sooth. Displaced Old English frēfran, ġefrēfran (“to comfort, console, soothe”), and partially displaced Old English stillan, ġestillan (“to calm, become calm, pacify, quieten”) (whence modern still).
The semantic evolution of "to verify, prove the validity of" → "to comfort" (first attested in the late 17th century) comes from the notion of assuaging someone by supporting the truth of what they say.
verb soothes · soothing · soothed · sooth
- To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh. Muſick has Charms to ſooth a ſavage Breaſt, To ſoften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
- To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
- To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
- To calm or placate someone or some situation.
- To ease or relieve pain or suffering. I am a cider drinker, I drinks it all of the day I am a cider drinker, it soothes all me troubles away
- To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
- To bring comfort or relief.
- To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
- To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
- To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
- To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession. To be ſhort, a wretched and curſed generation they be; hypocrites, pretending friendſhip, but they can not skill of plaine dealing and franke ſpeech. Rich men they claw, ſooth up and flatter: the poore they contemne and despiſe.
