soothe

English

Alternative forms

• sooth (obsolete)

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.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. what is the connection between verifying and comforting?

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /suːð/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːð

Verb

soothe (third-person singular simple present soothes, present participle soothing, simple past and past participle soothed)

1. (transitive) To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
   • 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, Act I, page 1:

     Muſick has Charms to ſooth a ſavage Breaſt,
     To ſoften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.

   • 2013 October 11, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎:

     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.

2. (transitive) To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
3. (transitive, rare) To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
4. (transitive) To calm or placate someone or some situation.
5. (transitive) To ease or relieve pain or suffering.
   • 1976, The Wurzels, I Am A Cider Drinker:

     I am a cider drinker, I drinks it all of the day
     I am a cider drinker, it soothes all me troubles away

6. (intransitive) To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
7. (intransitive) To bring comfort or relief.
8. (transitive) To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
9. (transitive, obsolete) To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
10. (transitive, obsolete) To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
11. (transitive, obsolete) To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession.
    • 1603, Plutarch, “Of the Novritvre and Edvcation of Children”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals , London: Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 15:

      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.

Synonyms

• (humour by agreement or concession): comply, give way; See also Thesaurus:accede

Derived terms

• soothing
• soothsayer

Translations