What does "obtund" mean?

To reduce the edge or effects of; to mitigate; to dull.

What is a synonym for "obtund"?

Common synonyms include: abate, allay, alleviate, anesthetize, assuage, bate.

Obtund

//əbˈtʌnd// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1
To reduce the edge or effects of; to mitigate; to dull. transitive
"[…] the use of alcoholic decoctions[…] which are given as medicines to allay pain, obtund nerve sensibility, to cure the little sufferer of his vital manifestations […]"
2
reduce the edge or violence of wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

abate allay alleviate anesthetize assuage bate

Example

More examples

"[…] the use of alcoholic decoctions[…] which are given as medicines to allay pain, obtund nerve sensibility, to cure the little sufferer of his vital manifestations […]"

Etymology

Latin obtundere (“to dull", "deaden", "deafen”), from ob- (see ob-) + tundere. More at obtuse.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.