anodynic








noun

  1. a medicine that relieves or allays pain.
  2. anything that relieves distress or pain: The music was an anodyne to his grief.

adjective

  1. relieving pain.
  2. soothing to the mind or feelings.

noun

  1. a drug that relieves pain; analgesic
  2. anything that alleviates mental distress

adjective

  1. capable of relieving pain or distress
adj.

1540s, from Medieval Latin anodynus “pain-removing, allaying pain,” from Latin anodynus “painless,” from Greek anodynos “free from pain,” from an- “without” (see an- (1)) + odyne “pain,” a word perhaps from PIE root *ed- “to eat” (cf., from the same root, Lithuanian edžioti “to devour, bite,” edžiotis “to suffer pain;” see eat). In old slang, frequently a euphemism for “death;” e.g. anodyne necklace “hangman’s noose.”

n.

  1. An agent that relieves pain.
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