Assuage, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assuaged; p. pr. & vb. n. Assuaging.]
Etymology: [OE. asuagen, aswagen, OF. asoagier, asuagier, fr. assouagier, fr. L. ad + suavis sweet. See Sweet.]
To soften, in a figurative sense; to allay, mitigate, ease, or lessen, as heat, pain, or grief; to appease or pacify, as passion or tumult; to satisfy, as appetite or desire. Refreshing winds the summer's heat assuage. Addison. To assuage the sorrows of a desolate old man Burke. The fount at which the panting mind assuages Her thirst of knowledge. Byron.
Syn. -- To alleviate; mitigate; appease; soothe; calm; tranquilize; relieve. See Alleviate.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Assuage, v. i.
To abate or subside. [Archaic] "The waters assuaged." Gen. vii. 1. The plague being come to a crisis, its fury began to assuage. De Foe.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for assuage; he lists it under alleviate.
Where he writes about it:
Assuage is, by derivation, to sweeten; mitigate, to make mild; moderate, to bring within measure; abate, to beat down, and so make less. — from alleviate
We abate a fever; lessen anxiety; moderate passions or desires; lighten burdens; mitigate or alleviate pain; reduce inflammation; soften, assuage, or moderate grief; we lighten or mitigate punishments; we relieve any suffering of body or mind that admits of help, comfort, or remedy. — from alleviate