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palliate

/ˈpælieɪt/verb

palliate is spelled P-A-L-L-I-A-T-E: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 47 million words in written English, the 211,986th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, palliate means “To relieve the symptoms of; to ameliorate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in palliate?

Letters8: P-A-L-L-I-A-T-E
In writingabout once in every 47 million words; the 211,986th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is palliate?

Palliate appears about once in every 47 million words in written English, the 211,986th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce palliate?

  • /ˈpælieɪt/

As an adjective (“Hidden, concealed”): /ˈpælieɪt/, /ˈpæliət/.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-palliate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of palliate

  • palliates present, singular, he/she/it
  • palliating participle, present
  • palliated participle, past
  • more palliate comparative
  • most palliate superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does palliate mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To relieve the symptoms of; to ameliorate.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo hide or disguise.

  3. 3

    To cover or disguise the seriousness of (a mistake, offence etc.) by excuses and apologies.

    April 5 1628, Bishop Joseph Hall, The Blessings, Sins, and Judgments of God's Vineyard We extenuate not our guilt : whatever we sin , we condemn it as mortal : they palliate wickedness , with the fair pretence of veniality

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo lessen the severity of; to extenuate, moderate, qualify.

  5. 5

    To placate or mollify.

  6. 6

    obsoletepast participle of palliate (all senses) (a form of palliate)

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoleteHidden, concealed.

  2. 2

    obsoleterare(of a cure) superficial or temporary.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Palliate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpallier, atténuer, remèdier à, soulager (to relieve the symptoms of)
Germanlindern (to relieve the symptoms of), beschönigen (to cover or disguise the seriousness of…)
Portugueseatenuar, remediar (to relieve the symptoms of)
Spanishpaliar (to relieve the symptoms of), cohonestar, encubrir, disimular (to cover or disguise the seriousness of…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does palliate come from?

The verb was inherited from Middle English palliaten (“To palliate (a disease), relieve the symptoms of (a patient); to extenuate (an offense); to conceal, hide”), the adjective and participle from its participle palliat(e); further borrowed either from Middle French pallier or directly from Latin palliātus, perfect passive participle of palliō (“to cover with a cloak”)), from pallium (“a cloak”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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