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Definition of Alleviate
1. Verb. Provide physical relief, as from pain. "This pill will relieve your headaches"
Specialized synonyms: Soothe, Comfort, Ease
Generic synonyms: Ameliorate, Amend, Better, Improve, Meliorate
Derivative terms: Alleviant, Alleviation, Alleviation, Alleviative, Alleviator, Alleviator, Alleviatory, Assuagement, Palliation, Palliative
2. Verb. Make easier. "You could facilitate the process by sharing your knowledge"
Generic synonyms: Aid, Assist, Help
Derivative terms: Easing, Facilitation, Facilitation, Facilitative, Facilitator
Definition of Alleviate
1. v. t. To lighten or lessen the force or weight of.
Definition of Alleviate
1. Verb. (transitive) To make less severe, as a pain or difficulty. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Alleviate
1. [v -ATED, -ATING, -ATES]
Medical Definition of Alleviate
1. 1. To lighten or lessen the force or weight of. "Should no others join capable to alleviate the expense." (Evelyn) "Those large bladders . . . Conduce much to the alleviating of the body [of flying birds]" (Ray) 2. To lighten or lessen (physical or mental troubles); to mitigate, or make easier to be endured; as, to alleviate sorrow, pain, care, etc.; opposed to aggravate. "The calamity of the want of the sense of hearing is much alleviated by giving the use of letters." (Bp. Horsley) 3. To extenuate; to palliate. "He alleviates his fault by an excuse." (Johnson) Synonym: To lessen, diminish, soften, mitigate, assuage, abate, relieve, nullify, allay. To Alleviate, Mitigate, Assuage, Allay. These words have in common the idea of relief from some painful state; and being all figurative, they differ in their application, according to the image under which this idea is presented. Alleviate supposes a load which is lightened or taken off; as, to alleviate one's cares. Mitigate supposes something fierce which is made mild; as, to mitigate one's anguish. Assuage supposes something violent which is quieted; as, to assuage one's sorrow. Allay supposes something previously excited, but now brought down; as, to allay one's suffering or one's thirst. To alleviate the distresses of life; to mitigate the fierceness of passion or the violence of grief; to assuage angry feeling; to allay wounded sensibility. Origin: LL. Alleviare, fr. L. Ad + levis light. See Alegge, Levity. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Alleviate
Literary usage of Alleviate
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1887)
"number of post-waggons to transport the wives and families of the soldiers,6
endeavoured to alleviate the hardships which he was con strained to inflict, ..."
2. History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-1892 by Winfield J. Davis (1893)
"... if carried out, will alleviate their present condition; and, whereas, the
workingmen and women of this country are being falsely led by an unprincipled, ..."
3. Matthew Paris's English History: From the Year 1235 to 1273 by Matthew Paris, John Allen Giles (1853)
"... of Westminster and others, whom they entreated by letter to alleviate the
wants of the needy out of the abundance of their riches. ..."
4. The Chronicles of Baltimore: Being a Complete History of "Baltimore Town by John Thomas Scharf (1874)
"To alleviate their miseries, by extending to them, with equity and liberality,
the public aid, is the only possible retribution which can be made by the ..."
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