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alleviation

[uh-lee-vee-ey-shuh n]
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noun
  1. the act of alleviating.
  2. something that alleviates or palliates.
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Origin of alleviation

1615–25; < Medieval Latin alleviātiōn- (stem of alleviātiō), equivalent to alleviāt(us) (see alleviate) + -iōn- -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

mitigationassuagementeasementeasecomfortabatementremedypalliationpalliative

Examples from the Web for alleviation

Historical Examples

  • But such an alleviation of my anguish is forbidden to my reason.

    Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • Let me suffer, and let me have what alleviation belongs to my condition.

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • When she had gone they were conscious of an alleviation, and of the great beauty of the evening.

    Howards End

    E. M. Forster

  • But the defeat and death of Mansfeld brought no alleviation.

  • Her visits to the Schulenberg tenement were always an alleviation to her unhappiness.

    The Faith Doctor

    Edward Eggleston

Word Origin and History for alleviation

n.

early 15c., from Middle French aleviacion or directly from Medieval Latin alleviationem (nominative alleviatio), noun of action from past participle stem of alleviare (see alleviate).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper