allay

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.

verb

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
   Kissinger was obviously doing his best to allay our government's growing apprehension in connection with Nixon's forthcoming trip to Peking. 1983, James C. H. Shen, “Dropping the First Shoe”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., page 84
   The trade show’s organisers had attempted to allay concerns by announcing more stringent health and safety measures including a ban on handshakes, and taking attendees’ temperatures. 2020-02-12, Mark Sweney, “Mobile World Congress axed after firms quit over coronavirus fears”, in The Guardian
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.
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.
   Yet far be it from us to condemn all their works to be dross, because debased and allayed with superstitious intents […] 1639, Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warr

noun

1. Alleviation; abatement; check.
2. (obsolete) An alloy.