allay

== English == === Alternative forms === alay (obsolete) === 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. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /əˈleɪ/ Rhymes: -eɪ === Verb === allay (third-person singular simple present allays, present participle allaying, simple past and past participle allayed) (transitive) To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm. Synonyms: appease, assuage, compose, soothe, calm, quiet (transitive) To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate. Synonyms: alleviate, abate (intransitive, obsolete) To subside, abate, become peaceful. (archaic) To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate. (archaic, by extension) To make worse by the introduction of inferior elements. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Noun === allay (plural allays) Alleviation; abatement; check. (obsolete) An alloy. === References === “allay”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. === Anagrams === yalla, Layla == Quechua == === Noun === allay harvest or digging up of potatoes or tubers ==== Declension ==== === Verb === allay (transitive) to dig, dig up, dig out, excavate; to harvest tubers ==== Conjugation ==== === See also === aymuray pallay