Smoothen

Smoothen is a verb meaning to make something smooth or less rough, irregular, or uneven. It is formed from the adjective smooth plus the agent suffix -en. In British English, smoothen is common, while in American usage many writers simply say smooth as the verb; however, smoothen remains understood in technical writing. The noun forms smoothing or, less commonly, smoothening, refer to the process or result of making something smoother.

In physical contexts, smoothen refers to processes that improve surface quality. Surfaces may be smoothed by sanding, planing, polishing, or applying coatings to reduce roughness, improve texture, or enhance adhesion for subsequent treatment such as painting or gluing.

In data and signal processing, smoothing describes techniques that reduce high-frequency noise to reveal underlying trends or patterns. Common methods include moving-average filters, Gaussian smoothing, and Savitzky–Golay filters. While smoothing can clarify signals, it may also attenuate sharp features like peaks or edges if applied too aggressively.

In computer graphics and geometry, smoothen includes algorithms that reduce jaggedness in polygonal meshes or curves. Techniques such as subdivision surfaces and Laplacian smoothing aim to produce visually continuous surfaces and more natural shapes.

In mathematics and analysis, smoothing often involves convolution with a smooth kernel, or mollifier, to convert a general function into a smoother one while preserving integral properties. This concept supports numerical methods, partial differential equations, and approximation theory.

See also: smoothing, smoothing filter, kernel smoothing, mollifier.