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an·o·dyne

(ănə-dīn′)

adj.

1. Capable of soothing or eliminating pain.

2. Relaxing: anodyne novels about country life.

3. Watered-down; insipid: "Many journalists, desperate to escape the anodyne and often absurd publicity releases, were drawn to Bogart's caustic, irreverent and highly quotable outbursts" (Jeffrey Meyers).

1. A medicine, such as aspirin, that relieves pain.

2. A source of soothing comfort.

[Latin anōdynus, from Greek anōdunos, free from pain : an-, without; see A-¹ + odunē, pain; see ed- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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