- anodyne
- 1540s, from M.L. anodynus "pain-removing," from L. anodynus "painless," from Gk. anodynos "free from pain," from an- "without" + odyne "pain," a word perhaps from PIE root *ed- "to eat" (cf., from the same root, Lith. edžioti "to devour, bite," edžiotis "to suffer pain"). In old slang, frequently a euphemism for "death;" e.g. anodyne necklace "hangman's noose."