FreeScrabbleDictionary

allay

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
8
Words With Friends
9
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/əˈleɪ/

Definition of allay

7 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

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”
    “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.”
See all 7 definitions

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”
    “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.”
  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.
    “And the wynde alayed, and there folowed a greate calme: and he sayde unto them: why are ye fearfull?”
    “For raging wind blows up incessant showers, And when the rage allays the rain begins.”
  4. (archaic)To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate.
  5. (archaic, broadly)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 […]”

noun

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

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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,…

See full 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.

Anagrams of allay

2 plays · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from allay

10 playable · top: ALLY (7 pts)

Best play ally 7 points

3-letter words

4 words

2-letter words

5 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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