soothe
v.v. to make someone feel calmer or less upset. It can also mean to make a part of your body feel less painful.
v. to alleviate pain, distress, or agitation; to exert a calming or pacifying influence. Often describes the reduction of physical inflammation or emotional turbulence.
The mother sang a song to soothe the crying baby.
Applying a cold compress can help soothe the skin after a minor burn or insect bite.
The diplomat's carefully chosen words were intended to soothe the rising tensions between the two nations before the formal negotiations began.
From Middle English sothen (“to verify, prove the validity of”), from Old English sōþian (“to verify, prove, confirm, bear witness to”), from Proto-West Germanic sanþōn, from Proto-Germanic sanþōną (“to prove, certify, acknowledge, testify”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Cognate with Danish sande (“to verify”), Swedish sanna (“to verify”), Icelandic sanna (“to verify”). See also sooth. Displaced native Old English frēfran, ġefrēfran (“to comfort, console, soothe”), and partially displaced native Old English stillan, ġestillan (“to calm, become calm, pacify, quieten”) (whence modern still). The semantic evolution of "to verify, prove the validity of" → "to comfort" (first attested in the late 17th century) comes from the notion of assuaging someone by supporting the truth of what they say.
The verb is transitive and typically takes a person or a physical sensation as its direct object.