different between fetter vs mollify

English

Etymology

From Old English feter, from Proto-Germanic *feturaz (“fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot, step”). Cognate with Dutch veter (“lace”). Related to foot.

Pronunciation

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /?fet.?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f?t.?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?f?t.?/
• Rhymes: -?t?(r)

Noun

fetter (plural fetters)

1. A chain or similar object used to bind a person or animal – often by its legs (usually in plural).
2. (figuratively) Anything that restricts or restrains.

Synonyms

(chains on legs):

• leg irons

Hyponyms

(chain binding generally):

• handcuff, handcuffs
• leg irons
• manacle, manacles
• shackle, shackles

Translations

Verb

fetter (third-person singular simple present fetters, present participle fettering, simple past and past participle fettered)

1. (transitive) To shackle or bind up with fetters.
2. (transitive) To restrain or impede; to hamper.

Hyponyms

• handcuff
• manacle
• shackle

Derived terms

• unfetter

Translations

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?f?t?]
• Homophone: Vetter

Adjective

fetter

1. comparative degree of fett
2. inflection of fett:
   1. strong/mixed nominative masculine singular
   2. strong genitive/dative feminine singular
   3. strong genitive plural

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Middle Low German vedder

Noun

fetter m (definite singular fetteren, indefinite plural fettere, definite plural fetterne)

1. a cousin (male)

Antonyms

• kusine

References

• “fetter” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Low German vedder.

Noun

fetter m (definite singular fetteren, indefinite plural fetrar, definite plural fetrane)

1. a male cousin

Coordinate terms

• kusine f (“female cousin”)

References

• “fetter” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Noun

fetter

1. indefinite plural of fett

Vilamovian

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: fet?ter

Noun

fetter m (plural fettyn)

1. paternal uncle (brother of someone’s father)

English

Alternative forms

• mollifie

Etymology

From Middle English mollifien, from Late Latin mollific?, from Latin mollis (“soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?l?fa?/

Verb

mollify (third-person singular simple present mollifies, present participle mollifying, simple past and past participle mollified)

1. To ease a burden, particularly worry; make less painful; to comfort.
   • 1893, Henry George, The Condition of Labor: An Open Letter to Pope Leo XIII, p. 104:

     All that charity can do where injustice exists is here and there to somewhat mollify the effects of injustice.

   • 1997, A Government Reinvented: A Study of Alberta's Deficit Elimination Program, p. 408:

     The draft Charter School Handbook issued in November 1994 sought to mollify concerns over teacher quality, if not ATA membership, by requiring teacher certification.

2. To appease (anger), pacify, gain the good will of.
   • 1867, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, chapter 2:

     Although this invitation was accompanied with a curtsey that might have softened the heart of a church-warden, it by no means mollified the beadle.

   • 1916, L. Frank Baum, Rinkitink in Oz, chapter 5:

     The angry goat was quite mollified by the respectful tone in which he was addressed.

   • 2016 January 31, "Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?," Vanity Fair (retrieved 21 January 2016):

     But these answers did not mollify Grassley. Specifically, he objected to Abedin’s becoming an S.G.E., because he believed she provided no irreplaceable expertise and therefore her designation as one had violated Congress’s intent when it created the program, in 1962.

3. To soften; to make tender
   • 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book III, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 113:

     "Nor is it any more difficulty for him to mollifie what is hard, then it is to harden what is so soft and fluid as the Aire."

   • 1724, William Burkitt, Expository Notes, with Practical Observations on the New Testament, p. 102:

     By thy kindness thou wilt melt and mollify his spirit towards thee, as hardest metals are melted by coals of fire …

Synonyms

• (to ease a burden): assuage, calm, comfort, mitigate, soothe
• (to appease): appease, conciliate, pacify, placate, propitiate, satisfy
• (to soften): soften, soften up, tenderize, temper, anneal, deharden, distemper
• See also Thesaurus:calm

Related terms

• emollient
• mollification

Translations