allay

If I'm correctly thinking of the word to which you refer, and the word is spelled as you have done, then to the best of my recollection, its etymology is Middle English via Old English, most likely with Nordic/Teutonic hyper root. It means to reduce intensity, to lessen urgency, that sorta thing - as in "to allay suspicion". I'm too lazy to look it up and toss you a dictionary cite right now - but any dictionary, print or online, should give you what you're after.

With one "L" and ending variably either in "Y" or "I", it is the common name of a Northwest Asian mountain range - but I doubt that has anything to do with your querry.

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Quote:

Main Entry: 1al·lay Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: l, a-
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -ed/-ing/-s
Etymology: Middle English alayen, aleggen, from Old English lecgan, from - (perfective prefix) + lecgan to lay -- more at ABEAR, LAY
transitive verb
1 obsolete : OVERTHROW, SUBDUE <allay this thy abortive pride -- Shakespeare>
2 : to subdue or reduce in intensity or severity : ALLEVIATE, RELIEVE, ABATE <this ration is palatable, very rapidly allays hunger -- H.G.Armstrong> <widely used in our community to allay aches -- Ben Riker> <sought ... to catch every river breeze to allay the summer heat -- Maxwell Mays>
3 : to put at rest (as disquiet, fear, or suspicion) : make quiet : PACIFY, APPEASE, QUELL, CALM <some answer to allay all his anxieties -- Norman Kelman> <the turmoil that had been partly allayed returned -- Elizabeth M. Roberts> <competition was embittered rather than allayed -- Times Literary Supplement>
4 a : to limit the pleasurable or good effect of : moderate by something unpleasant <the victors' joy was allayed by the death of their prince> b : WEAKEN, DIMINISH, QUALIFY
intransitive verb, obsolete : to diminish in strength : SUBSIDE <when the rage allays -- Shakespeare>
synonym see RELIEVE

"allay." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (26 Sep. 2006).

[French "allée" means 'avenue', 'parkway'.
English 'fight' is "lutte", "combat" in French.}

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Showoff

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I'm aware of the definition meaning "alleviate," but I'm sure it has a meaning for "fight" as well! It is used this way to kick off fencing bouts, and even before I heard that I was aware of this other meaning.

Perhaps it comes from the obsolete "overthrow/subdue" form there, where subdue could mean literally "to subdue by force"...and then the word developed into the more peaceful type of subdue...

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Maybe "allez", like "go"?

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Stuh505, for what it's worth, I knew you didn't need a definition of allay. Check the following fencing glossary under the term aller.

Dictionnaire des termes d'escrime

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Quote:

It is used this way to kick off fencing bouts, and even before I heard that I was aware of this other meaning.

That sure sounds like "go", to me. (English "go"= French "allez.")

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aller, allez...they have the same definition. But how are they pronounced? I'm guessing that "aller" is the word I'm thinking of because it's pronunciation sounds like it would be closer to what I thought I heard (allay).

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You don't notice a difference in pronounciation between 'aller' and 'allez': they sound the very same.

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The words aller and allez cannot be distinguished by pronunuciation, only by context. That is not uncommon in languages, such as "your, you're, yore." When two words sound alike from one language to another, but do not relate in meaning, they are known in English as false cognates (so, for example, long in English is a false cognate of long in French--they don't mean the same thing). In French, the term is faux amis--false friends.

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Allez is pronounced as "allay" (which is why I thought of it).

According to Babelfish, allez = go while aller = to go. I stopped taking French in 8th grade, so I can't explain further than that, but looks to me like it's not a specific fencing term and has nothing in particular to do with fighting -- just a way to get things started.

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sozobe wrote:

Allez is pronounced as "allay" (which is why I thought of it).

In that cause, my pronounciation of "allay" definately was wrong.

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As I don't know for sure the pronounciation of allay, I can't say.

But if it's like a lay, I tend to think it's not the same as allez

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No, it's like -- allez. :-D

The first "a" is a little different, but basically the same.

(Again, I plead limited knowledge here, Setanta is probably best for knowing both pronunciations.)

Here, stuh, this has "allez" in it, though it's "allez-vous":

slow

fast

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sozobe wrote:

...but looks to me like it's not a specific fencing term and has nothing in particular to do with fighting -- just a way to get things started.

The term is certainly not unique to fencing but you could probably say that it is a specific fencing term in that it is the universally used command given by a fencing director to indicate that the combattants may begin fighting. In other words, it doesn't get translated to "go" in English-speaking countries or "andale" in Spanish-speaking ones.

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OK.

My point was more that it probably just means "go" rather than some variation of "fight", which is what stuh was saying at the beginning.

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Francis wrote:

As I don't know for sure the pronounciation of allay, I can't say.

But if it's like a lay, I tend to think it's not the same as allez

To the ear of a speaker of the American language, these words would sound the same.

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Just for more pointless knowledge, allez is also figures in the origin of the phrase alley oop (now known as a type of basketball dunk but originating from the acrobatic world) from a combination of the French allez and the English up.

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sozobe wrote:

(Again, I plead limited knowledge here, Setanta is probably best for knowing both pronunciations.)

Francis speaks French in France on a daily basis ... and his English surely is better than that of some "native" speakers. :wink:

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allay

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