allay, alay, ala ye, allegge, alegge

t. & i. [Wedgwood considers that the A.S. alecgan and the Fr. alléger have both had to do with the origin of this word, which in its old form is best spelled with a single 1 ( alegge ) when from aleegan, and a double one ( allegge ) when from alléger. A.S. alecgan, imp. alege, is (1) to place, to lay down, to lay along, (2) to lay aside, confine, diminish, take away, put down or depre . Cognate with Dut. leggen to lay, put, or place. The Fr. alléger is = to lighten, unload, ease, relieve, mitigate; lege = empty, light. In Sp. aliviar; Ital alleviare; Lat. allevo = (1) to lift up, (2) to lighten, to alleviate, (3) to diminish the force of, to weaken; from levis light, not heavy. At first, allay and alloy were the same words.] [ALEGGE, ALLEGE, ALLOY, ALLEVIATE.] A. Transitive : *1. Formerly: To mingle the precious metals with baser ingredients. 2. To diminish the acrid character of a substance; to mix wine with water. Being brought into the open air, It would allay the burning quality Of that fell poison which a aileth him." Shakesp. King John, v. 7. "If he drinketh wine let him ala ye it, or let it be soure." Holly bush: Homish Apothecary , p. 41. 3. To appease, to quiet, to diminish, to soften, to mitigate. (Applied to the appetites, the emotions, the pa ions, .) "But God, who caused a fountain, at thy prayer, From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay After the brunt of battle. Milton: Samson Agonistes . "But his exhortations irritated the pa ions which he wished to allay."-Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , ch. xii. B. Intransitive : To abate.