different between solace vs mollify

English

Etymology

From Old French solas, from Latin s?l?cium (“consolation”), root from Proto-Indo-European *s?lh?- (“mercy, comfort”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?.l?s/
• (US) enPR: s??lace, IPA^(key): /?s??.l?s/
• Rhymes: -?l?s

Noun

solace (countable and uncountable, plural solaces)

1. Comfort or consolation in a time of loneliness or distress.

   You cannot put a monetary value on emotional solace.

2. A source of comfort or consolation.
   • September 25, 1750, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler

     The proper solaces of age are not music and compliments, but wisdom and devotion.

Synonyms

• comfort
• consolation
• relief
• support
• compassion

Derived terms

• solaceful
• solacement

Translations

Verb

solace (third-person singular simple present solaces, present participle solacing, simple past and past participle solaced)

1. (transitive) To give solace to; comfort; cheer; console.
2. (transitive) To allay or assuage.
3. (intransitive) To take comfort; to be cheered.

Translations

Related terms

• console

Anagrams

• Coales, acoels, coales

Spanish

Verb

solace

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of solazarse.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of solazarse.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of solazarse.

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