alleviate Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb provide physical relief, as from pain
assuage; relieve; palliate.
- This pill will relieve your headaches
verb make easier
ease; facilitate.
- you could facilitate the process by sharing your knowledge

LL. alleviare, fr. L. ad + levis light. See Alegge, Levity.

imperfect & past participle Alleviated; present participle & verbal noun Alleviating

To lighten or lessen the force or weight of. Obs.
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.
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.
To extenuate; to palliate. R.
He alleviates his fault by an excuse. Johnson.
Syn. -- 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.