"alleviate (pain, etc.) wholly or partly, mitigate; afford comfort; allow respite;… See origin and meaning of relieve.
mid-14c., redressen, "to correct, reform" (a person; a sense now obsolete); late 14c., "restore, put right" (a wrong, error, offense); "repair; relieve; improve; amend," from Old French redrecier, redresier, "reform, restore, rebuild" (Modern French redresser), from re- "again...
early 15c., "relieve (pain); make mild or more tolerable; reduce in amount or degree," from Latin mitigatus, past participle of mitigare "soften, make tender, ripen, mellow, tame," figuratively, "make mild or gentle, pacify, soothe," ultimately from mitis "gentle, soft" + root of ...
"having power to relieve pain," 1540s, from Medieval Latin anodynus "pain-removing,… See origin and meaning of anodyne.
Earlier the word was used of a quack device consisting of two metal rods which were supposed to relieve rheumatism (1798, in fullPerkins's metallic tractor); this is still the specific sense of the noun in Century Dictionary (1891).
"to unload, disburden," a literal sense now obsolete; 1570s as "relieve (of a charge,… See origin and meaning of exonerate.
"to raise from the dead or the grave, reanimate, restore to life," 1772, a back-formation… See origin and meaning of resurrect.
"bargain, make a contract" (intransitive, a sense now obsolete), a back-formation from… See origin and meaning of stipulate.
"credible, capable of being believed," late 14c., from believe + -able. Related:… See origin and meaning of believable.
"continued discourse, critical dissertation" (senses now archaic), from French diatribe… See origin and meaning of diatribe.