palliative

English

Etymology

From Middle French palliatif, from New Latin *palliātīvus, from Medieval Latin palliō (“to cloak”), from Latin pallium (“a cloak”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpælɪətɪv/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpælieɪtɪv/, /ˈpæliətɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

palliative (comparative more palliative, superlative most palliative)

2. Serving to palliate; serving to extenuate or mitigate.
4. (medicine) Minimising the progression of a disease and relieving undesirable symptoms for as long as possible, rather than attempting to cure the (usually incurable) disease.

Derived terms

• palliative care

Related terms

• palliate
• palliation

Translations

reducing progression and relieving symptoms

Arabic: مُلَطِّف (mulaṭṭif), مُخَفِّف (muḵaffif), مُسَكِّن (ar) (musakkin) Bulgarian: облекчаващ (bg) (oblekčavašt) Catalan: pal·liatiu (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 緩和的 / 缓和的 (huǎnhé de), 姑息的 (gūxī de, gūxí de) Czech: paliativní (cs), zmírňující, útěšný, úlevný Finnish: palliatiivinen (fi), oireita lievittävä French: palliatif (fr) German: palliativ (de), beschönigend (de), lindernd (de) Greek: καταπραϋντικός (el) (katapraÿntikós) Hebrew: מקל (he) m (makel) Ido: paliativa (io) Indonesian: paliatif (id) Italian: palliativo (it) Japanese: 一時的に緩和する (いちじてきかんわする, ichijiteki ni kanwa suru) Kazakh: паллиативтік (palliativtık) Polish: paliatywny (pl) Portuguese: paliativo (pt) Russian: паллиати́вный (ru) (palliatívnyj) Spanish: paliativo (es) Swedish: lindrande (sv), palliativ (sv) Turkish: palyatif (tr) Ukrainian: паліати́вний (paliatývnyj)

Noun

palliative (plural palliatives)

1. (medicine) Something that palliates, particularly a palliative medicine.

   The radiation and chemotherapy were only palliatives.

   • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXVIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 66:

     Mary heard with sorrow, and fear also, of the projected journey; but the altered expression of Isabella's countenance was a great palliative—dreadful as it was that her husband should love another...

See also

• Palliative care on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• “palliative”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “palliative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “palliative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

palliative

1. feminine singular of palliatif

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

Adjective

palliative

1. inflection of palliativ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pal.ljaˈti.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: pal‧lia‧tì‧ve

Adjective

palliative

1. feminine plural of palliativo