soothe
verb/suːð/
Etymology
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.
11 senses
- 1To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve…
- 2To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
- 3To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
- 4To calm or placate someone or some situation.
- 5To ease or relieve pain or suffering.
- 6To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
- 7To bring comfort or relief.
- 8To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
- 9To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
- 10To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness…
- 11To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession.
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.1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 1:
- Yet Wayne Rooney scored at a good time, three minutes after the restart, to soothe any gathering nerves and the night can ultimately be chalked off as one of the finest occasions of Hodgson's 17 months in the job.2013 October 11, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:
To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
Rare 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 away1976, The Wurzels, I Am A Cider Drinker:
To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
To bring comfort or relief.
To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
Obsolete To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
Obsolete To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
Obsolete 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.1603, Plutarch, “Of the Nouriture and Education of Children”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 15:
- Derived terms
- besoothe, resoothe, soothability, soothable, soother, soothesome, soothing, soothsayer, soothy, unsoothe, unsoothed