different between smooth vs waxen

English

Alternative forms

• smeeth (dialectal)
• (verb): smoothe

Etymology

From Middle English smoothe, smothe, smethe, from Old English sm?þ and Old English sm?þe, both from Proto-Germanic *smanþaz, *smanþiz, of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots smuith (“smooth”), Low German smood and smödig (“smooth, malleable, ductile”), Dutch smeuïg (“smooth”) (from earlier smeudig).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smu?ð/
• Rhymes: -u?ð

Adjective

smooth (comparative smoother, superlative smoothest)

1. Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     The outlines must be smooth, […] imperceptible to the touch, and even, without eminence or cavities.

   • “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, […].
2. Without difficulty, problems, or unexpected consequences or incidents.
3. Bland; glib.

   • This smooth discourse and mild behavior oft / Conceal a traitor.
4. Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; fluent.
   • 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain

     the only smooth poet of those times}}

   • 1713, John Gay, The Fan

     When sage Minerva rose, / From her sweet lips smooth elocution flows.

5. (of a person) Suave; sophisticated.
6. (of an action) Natural; unconstrained.
7. (of a motion) Unbroken.
8. (chiefly of water) Placid, calm.
9. (of an edge) Lacking projections or indentations; not serrated.
10. (of food or drink) Not grainy; having an even texture.
11. (of a beverage) Having a pleasantly rounded flavor; neither rough nor astringent.
12. (mathematics, of a function) Having derivatives of all finite orders at all points within the function’s domain.
13. (mathematics, of a number) That factors completely into small prime numbers.
14. (linguistics, classical studies, of a vowel) Lacking marked aspiration.
15. (of muscles, medicine) Involuntary and non-striated.

Synonyms

• (having a texture lacking friction): even
• (without difficulty or problems): fluid

Antonyms

• rough
• uneven
• bumpy

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

smooth (comparative smoother, superlative smoothest)

1. Smoothly.

Noun

smooth (plural smooths)

1. Something that is smooth, or that goes smoothly and easily.

   • The smooth of his neck.

   • 1862, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Adventures of Philip

     I think you and I will take the ups and the downs , the roughs and the smooths of this daily existence and conversation
2. A smoothing action.
3. A domestic animal having a smooth coat.
4. A member of an anti-hippie fashion movement in 1970s Britain.
5. (statistics) The analysis obtained through a smoothing procedure.

Translations

Verb

smooth (third-person singular simple present smooths, present participle smoothing, simple past and past participle smoothed)

1. (transitive) To make smooth or even.

   Synonym: smoothen

2. (transitive) To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure; to press, to flatten.

3. (transitive) To make straightforward or easy.
   • 2007, Beth Kohn, Lonely Planet Venezuela (page 379)

     Caracas can be a tough place but the tremendously good-natured caraqueños smoothed my passage every step of the way.

4. (transitive) To calm or palliate.

   to smooth a person's temper

5. (statistics, image processing, digital audio) To capture important patterns in the data, while leaving out noise.
6. (West Country) To stroke; especially to stroke an animal's fur.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• smoothing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• shtoom

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English waxen, from Old English weaxen, ?eweaxen, from Proto-Germanic *wahsanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *wahsijan? (“to wax, grow, increase”), equivalent to wax +? -en (past participle ending).

Adjective

waxen (comparative more waxen, superlative most waxen)

1. (Britain, dialectal) Grown.

Etymology 2

Verb

waxen

1. (archaic) alternative past participle of wax.
2. (obsolete) plural simple present of wax
   • 1540, Great Bible, Second Edition, Preface

     And they that occupye them been in muche savegarde, and have greate consolacyon, and been the readyer unto all goodnesse, the slower to all evyll: and if they have done anything amysse, anone even by the sight of the bookes, theyr conscvences been admonished, and they waxen sory and ashamed of the facte.

   • 1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender

     When the rayne is faln, the cloudes wexen cleare.

   • 1590-97, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, II, i

     And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,

     And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear

     A merrier hour was never wasted there.

Etymology 3

From Middle English waxen (“made of wax”), from Old English weaxen (“waxen, made of wax”), equivalent to wax +? -en (“made of”).

Adjective

waxen (comparative more waxen, superlative most waxen)

2. Made of wax; covered with wax.
   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act II, Scene 4,^[1]

     She is fair; and so is Julia that I love—

     That I did love, for now my love is thaw’d;

     Which, like a waxen image, ’gainst a fire,

     Bears no impression of the thing it was.

3. Of or pertaining to wax.
4. Having the pale smooth characteristics of wax, waxlike, waxy.
   • 1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast, Penguin, 1969, Chapter 28, p. 185,^[2]

     It was hard to imagine that the broken thing had once been new; that those withered, waxen cheeks had been fresh and tinted. That her eyes had long ago glinted with laughter.

5. (rare) Easily effaced, as if written in wax.

Derived terms

• waxen chatterer
• waxen image

Translations

Middle English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?waks?n/, /?w?ks?n/

Etymology 1

From Old English weaxan, from Proto-Germanic *wahsijan?.

Alternative forms

• waxenn, waxin, waxyn, waxe, wax, wexen, wexsyn, wexe, wexi, vexen

Verb

waxen

2. To grow (become larger):
   1. To grow up; to become fully grown.
   2. To wax (of the moon); to rise (of the tide).
3. To increase in amount; to multiply
4. To increase in magnitude; to magnify
5. To appear; to arise.
6. To change; to turn (to or into something)
7. To become, to assume (a quality or state)

Usage notes

Already in Old English, this verb's conjugation varied; in Northumbria, the original class 6 conjugation was retained, while elsewhere, the verb went over to class 7; this variation persists in Middle English. Further variation results from levelling of forms during the Middle English period.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• faxwax
• wax
• waxyng

Descendants

• English: wax
• Scots: wax

References

• “waxen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From wax (“wax”) +? -en (“infinitival ending”).

Alternative forms

• waxyn, waxe, wax, wexen

Verb

waxen

2. to wax (apply wax to; cover in wax)
3. (rare) to stop (a hole)

Conjugation

Descendants

• English: wax

References

• “waxen, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

From wax (“wax”) +? -en (“made of”).

Adjective

waxen

2. (hapax) waxen (made of wax)

Descendants

• English: waxen

References

• “waxen, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.