allay
/əˈleɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.69 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Example Sentences
- "to allay popular excitement"
- "to allay the tumult of the passions"
- "O love, be moderate, allay thy ecstacy, […]"
- "They were forced to try to allay discontent by palliative measures."
- "He had to pretend to be drunk in order to allay the suspicions which might have been aroused by his appearance at the gate."
- "Kissinger was obviously doing his best to allay our government's growing apprehension in connection with Nixon's forthcoming trip to Peking."
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.