FromMiddle English softenen softnen soft -en
soften (third-person singular simple present softens present participle softening simple past and past participle softened
( transitive ) soft orsofter .Soften the butter before beating in the sugar.
( transitive ) undermine themorale of someone (oftensoften up ).Before the invasion, wesoftened up the enemy with the artillery.
( transitive ) harsh Having second thoughts, Isoftened my criticism.
2015 February 7, Helen Yemm, “Thorny problems: How can I soften a brick wall with plants?”, inThe Daily Telegraph (London)[1] I have recently reclad the south-west facing side of my single-storey cottage[ …] soften the building.
( intransitive ) The buttersoftened as it warmed up.
( ambitransitive , phonology ) lenis , tolenite .( Slavic phonology ) palatalize .(transitive) To make something soft or softer
Albanian:zbut (sq) Azerbaijani:yumşaltmaq (az) Bulgarian:размеквам (bg) ( razmekvam ) Catalan:estovar (ca) ,ablanir (ca) Chinese:Mandarin:軟化 / 软化 (zh) ( ruǎnhuà ) Danish:blødgøre Dutch:verzachten (nl) Finnish:pehmentää (fi) ,pehmittää (fi) French:adoucir (fr) Galician:suavizar (gl) ,amolecer (gl) ,amolegar amolentar (gl) German:aufweichen (de) ,weichen (de) Greek:Ancient:μαλάσσω ( malássō ) Italian:ammorbidire (it) ,addolcire (it) Kazakh:жұмсарту ( jūmsartu ) Latin:molliō Maori:whakapē ( refers to food ) ,whakangāwari whakangohengohe Norwegian:bløtgjøre Polish:zmiękczać (pl) impf zmiękczyć pf Portuguese:amolecer (pt) Romanian:muia (ro) ,înmuia (ro) Russian:смягча́ть (ru) impf ( smjaxčátʹ ) ,смягчи́ть (ru) pf ( smjaxčítʹ ) ;размягча́ть (ru) impf ( razmjaxčátʹ ) ,размягчи́ть (ru) pf ( razmjaxčítʹ ) Sicilian:arrijuncari (scn) Spanish:ablandar (es) ,suavizar (es) Swedish:mjukna (sv) Tagalog:lumambot Turkish:yumuşatmak (tr) Ukrainian:пом'я́кшувати impf ( pomʺjákšuvaty ) ,пом'якши́ти pf ( pomʺjakšýty ) ,розм'я́кшувати impf ( rozmʺjákšuvaty ) ,розм'якши́ти pf ( rozmʺjakšýty ) ǃXóõ:gǃxàn ( by pounding )
(transitive) To undermine the morale of someone (oftensoften up )
(transitive) To make less harsh
(intransitive) To become soft or softer
Assamese:মজা ( moza ) Azerbaijani:yumşalmaq Bulgarian:омеквам (bg) ( omekvam ) Chinese:Mandarin:變軟 / 变软 (zh) ( biànruǎn ) Danish:blødgøres Egyptian: (gnn Finnish:pehmetä (fi) ,pehmentyä Galician:amolecer (gl) German:aufweichen (de) ,weichen (de) Greek:Ancient:μαλάσσομαι ( malássomai ) Ido:deshardeskar (io) Italian:ammorbidirsi Japanese:柔らかくなる ( やわらかくなる, yawarakaku naru ) ,軟らかくなる ( やわらかくなる, yawarakaku naru ) Latin:mollescō Polish:mięknąć (pl) impf zmięknąć pf Russian:смягча́ться (ru) impf ( smjaxčátʹsja ) ,смягчи́ться (ru) pf ( smjaxčítʹsja ) ;размягча́ться (ru) impf ( razmjaxčátʹsja ) ,размягчи́ться (ru) pf ( razmjaxčítʹsja ) Spanish:ablandarse (es) ,lentecer (es) ,enllentecerse (es) ,reblandecerse (es) Turkish:yumuşamak (tr)
