ALLEVIATE

relieve, alleviate, palliate, assuage

(verb) provide physical relief, as from pain; “This pill will relieve your headaches”

facilitate, ease, alleviate

(verb) make easier; “you could facilitate the process by sharing your knowledge”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

alleviate (third-person singular simple present alleviates, present participle alleviating, simple past and past participle alleviated)

(transitive) To make less severe, as a pain or difficulty.

Usage notes

Particularly used of pain or difficulty, with connotations of “lightening a load”.

Synonyms

• address, allay, ameliorate, assuage, ease, mitigate, relieve

Antonyms

• (to make less severe): aggravate

Source: Wiktionary

Al*le"vi*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Alleviated; p. pr. & vb. n. Alleviating.] Etym: [LL. alleviare, fr. L. ad + levis light. See Alegge, Levity.]

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition