Alleviare

Alleviare is an Italian transitive verb that means to alleviate, ease, relieve, or lessen pain, distress, or burdens. It is used in medical contexts to refer to reducing symptoms and in everyday language to describe making a difficult situation more bearable, such as alleviating fatigue, anxiety, or a heavy load.

Conjugation and usage: alleviare is a regular -are verb. In the present indicative you would say: io allevio, tu allevi, lui/lei allevia, noi alleviamo, voi alleviate, loro alleviano. The past participle is alleviato, and compound tenses use the auxiliary avere (ho alleviato, hai alleviato, ha alleviato, ecc.). Common expressions include alleviare il dolore (to relieve the pain), alleviare la sofferenza, alleviare la tensione, and alleviare una spesa o un onere (to ease a cost or burden).

Etymology and related terms: the verb is derived from Latin allevāre, related to le-vare/levare meaning to lift or lighten, with the prefix that expresses removal or mitigation. Related Italian verbs include lenire, mitigare, and alleggerire, which share the core sense of reducing severity or weight. A frequent caution is to distinguish alleviare from allevare, which in Italian means to raise or breed animals and has a different etymology and usage.

Usage notes: alleviare is commonly used with abstract concepts (pain, distress, worries) as well as concrete burdens (fiscal, physical, or emotional). The choice of synonym depends on nuance: alleviare emphasizes relief and ease, while other terms like mitigare or alleggerire may stress reduction or lightening in different contexts.