Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To calm or placate (a person, for example).
  • intransitive verb To ease or relieve (pain, for example).
  • intransitive verb To bring comfort, composure, or relief.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To prove true; verify; confirm as truth.
  • To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
  • To assent to; yield to; humor by agreement or concession.
  • To keep in good humor; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
  • To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquillity; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
  • To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
  • To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
  • Synonyms and
  • To compose, tranquilize, pacify, ease, alleviate.
  • To temporize by assent, concession, flattery or cajolery.
  • To have a comforting or tranquilizing influence.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To assent to as true.
  • transitive verb To assent to; to comply with; to gratify; to humor by compliance; to please with blandishments or soft words; to flatter.
  • transitive verb To assuage; to mollify; to calm; to comfort.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, obsolete To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
  • verb transitive, obsolete To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
  • verb transitive, obsolete To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession.
  • verb transitive To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
  • verb transitive To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
  • verb transitive To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
  • verb transitive, rare To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
  • verb transitive To calm or placate someone or some situation.
  • verb transitive To ease or relieve pain or suffering.
  • verb intransitive To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
  • verb intransitive To bring comfort or relief.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb give moral or emotional strength to
  • verb cause to feel better

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sothen, to verify, from Old English sōthian, from sōth, true; see es- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English sothen ("to verify, prove the validity of"), from Old English sōþian ("to verify, prove, confirm, bear witness to"), from Proto-Germanic *sanþōnan (“to prove, certify, acknowledge, testify”), from Proto-Indo-European *sont-, *sent- (“being, true”). Cognate with Danish sande ("to verify"), Swedish sanna ("to verify"), Icelandic sanna ("to verify"), Gothic  (suthjan),  (suthjōn, "to soothe"). See also sooth.

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Examples

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    Think Progress » “Frist told reporters 2005

  • Little did you know but when I went back to school (after 30 years) Bramble Berry actually helped "soothe" my soul.

    A Gift? For Me? You Shouldn't Have! Anne-Marie 2007

  • Little did you know but when I went back to school (after 30 years) Bramble Berry actually helped "soothe" my soul.

    Archive 2007-08-01 Anne-Marie 2007

  • MCCULLOUGH: John Quincy Adams 'kids, most of them went through alcoholism and addiction to different things to kind of soothe the pain of not being able to live up to their father's expectations.

    CNN Transcript Nov 6, 2008 2008

  • MCCULLOUGH: John Quincy Adam's kids mostly went through alcoholism and addictions to different things to kind of soothe the pain of not being able to live up to their father's expectations.

    CNN Transcript Nov 7, 2008 2008

  • At 7 months we did CIO after the non-sleeping, nurse in bed, rocking till our arms fell off, circus of trying to "soothe" an "energetic" boy.

    Look At Me Not Sleeping 2008

  • MCCULLOUGH: John Quincy Adam's kids, most of them went through alcoholism and addictions to different things to kind of soothe the pain of not being able to live up to their father's expectations.

    CNN Transcript Nov 6, 2008 2008

  • MCCOLLOUGH: John Quincy Adams ` kids - most of them went through alcoholism and addictions to different things to kind of soothe the pain of not being able to live up to their father ` s expectations.

    CNN Transcript Nov 7, 2008 2008

  • MCCULLOUGH: John Quincy Adam's kids mostly went through alcoholism and addictions to different things to kind of soothe the pain of not being able to live up to their father's expectations.

    CNN Transcript Nov 7, 2008 2008

  • MCCULLOUGH: John Quincy Adams 'kids, most of them went through alcoholism and addiction to different things to kind of soothe the pain of not being able to live up to their father's expectations.

    CNN Transcript Nov 6, 2008 2008

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