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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Comfort

Cŏm'fort, v. t.

verbtransitive

(kŭm'furt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. COMFORTED; p. pr. & vb. n. COMFORTING.] [Fr. conforter, It. confortare, Sp. confortar, conhortar, Pg. confortar, Pr. conortar, from Lat. confortare, from con and fortis, strong.]

Sense 1. To bring strength, support, or consolation to; to give vigor to the spirits of; to relieve from distress or pain; to cheer; to invigorate; to console.

I am louted by a traitor villain. And can not help the noble chevalier; God comfort him in this necessity. Shak.

Sense 2. (Law.) To relieve, assist, or encourage, as the accessory to a crime after the fact. Blackstone.

Synonyms—To cheer; solace; console; revive; encourage; enliven; invigorate; inspirit; gladden; recreate; exhilarate; refresh; animate; confirm; strengthen.—TO COMFORT, CONSOLE, SOLACE. These verbs all suppose some antecedent state of suffering or sorrow. Console is confined to the act of giving relief to the mind under affliction or sorrow, and points to some definite source of that relief; as, the presence of his friend consoled him; he was much consoled by this intelligence, &c. Comfort points to relief afforded by the communication of positive pleasure, as well as the diminution of pain; as, “they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.” Acts xx. 12. Solace is from solatium, which means, according to Dumesnil, consolation inwardly felt or applied to the case of the sufferer. Hence, the verb to solace denotes the using of things for the purpose of affording relief under sorrow or suffering; as, to solace one's self with work or with active employments.

Cŏm'fort, n.

noun

n. [O. Fr. confort, Pr. conort. See supra.] 1. Strength and relief received under affliction; support; solace; consolation. Her soul, heaven's queen, whose name she bears, In comfort of her mother's fears, Hath placed among her virgin train. B. Jonson. 2. A state of quiet enjoyment; freedom from that which disturbs or annoys; also, whatever contributes to such enjoyment and freedom. He [Goldsmith] had the means of living in comfort, and even in what to one who had so often slept in barns, or on balks, must have been luxury. Macaulay. Let . . . thy merciful kindness be for my comfort. Ps. cxix. 76.

  1. (Law.) Support; assistance; countenance; encouragement; as, an accessory affords comfort to a felon.
  2. A wadded quilt; a comfortable or comforter. [U. S.]

Syn.—COMFORT, CONSOLATION. Comfort has two meanings: 1. Strength and relief received under affliction; 2. Positive enjoyment, of a quiet, permanent nature, together with the sources thereof; as, the comfort of love; surrounded with comforts. This latter is the meaning now in general use; but it is with the former only that the word consolation is brought into comparison. As thus compared, consolation points to some specific source of relief for the afflicted mind; as, the consolations of religion. Comfort supposes the relief to be afforded by imparting positive enjoyment, as well as a diminution of pain. “Consolation, or comfort, signifies some alleviation to that pain to which it is not in our power to afford the proper and adequate remedy; they imply rather an augmentation of the power of bearing, than a diminution of the burden.” Johnson.