Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
MOLLIFY
mollify
(verb) make less rigid or softer
temper, season, mollify, moderate
(verb) make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else; “she tempered her criticism”
pacify, lenify, conciliate, assuage, appease, mollify, placate, gentle, gruntle
(verb) cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; “She managed to mollify the angry customer”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
mollify (third-person singular simple present mollifies, present participle mollifying, simple past and past participle mollified)
To ease a burden, particularly worry; make less painful; to comfort.
To appease (anger), pacify, gain the good will of.
To soften; to make tender
Synonyms
• (to ease a burden): assuage, calm, comfort, mitigate, soothe
• (to appease): appease, conciliate, pacify, placate, propitiate, satisfy
• See also calm
Source: Wiktionary
Mol"li*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mollified; p. pr. & vb. n. Mollifying.] Etym: [F. mollifier, L. mollificare; mollis soft + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See Enmollient, Moil, v. t., and -fy.]
1. To soften; to make tender; to reduce the hardness, harshness, or asperity of; to qualify; as, to mollify the ground. With sweet science mollified their stubborn hearts. Spenser.
2. To assuage, as pain or irritation, to appease, as excited feeling or passion; to pacify; to calm.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Coffee Trivia
