Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “alleviate” come from?

Alleviate comes from Late Latin alleviatus, past participle of Latin alleviare, formed from Latin ad- plus a root from Proto-Indo-European h₁lengʷʰ-.

alleviate (English): To make less severe, as a pain or difficulty

Definitions

  1. To make less severe, as a pain or difficulty

Ancestry of “alleviate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinalleviatusalleviated, lifted up
2LatinallevioI make light, lighten; I raise up, relieve,...
3Latinad-to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it...
4Latinīn-—
5Latinîn—
6Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
7Proto-Italicenin
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “alleviate”

  • alleviator
  • alleviative
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →