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sedate

se·date

UK/sɪˈdeɪt/ US/səˈdeɪt/ uncommon obsolete
adjective (2) verb (1)

adjective

1.

characterized by dignity and propriety

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2.

dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises

  • “a grave God-fearing man”
  • “a quiet sedate nature”
  • “as sober as a judge”
  • “a solemn promise”
  • “the judge was solemn as he pronounced sentence”
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verb

1.

cause to be calm or quiet as by administering a sedative to

  • “The patient must be sedated before the operation”
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Antonyms

Origin

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English sedate (“not painful or sore”), and directly from its etymon Latin sēdātus (“calm, quiet, composed”), participial adjective from sēdō (“to allay, appease, calm, settle; to end, stop”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”). Compare English -ate (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘characterized by [the thing specified]’). The verb is partly derived from sēdāt-, a participial stem of sēdō (verb sense 2-“to make (someone or something) calm”; see above), and partly a back-formation from sedation (verb sense 1-“to give (a person) a sedative”) + English -ate (suffix forming verbs). It is first attested slightly later than the adjective.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.