Palliate(o) is closest in meaning to which option?

• A. To worsen symptoms
• B. To diagnose
• C. To relieve symptoms
• D. To cure completely

Answer: (C)

Palliate means to lessen the severity of symptoms and make a patient more comfortable without curing the underlying disease. That’s why the option describing relief of symptoms is the best fit. In practice, palliative care focuses on comfort—reducing pain, nausea, or distress—rather than eliminating the disease itself. The other options describe actions that are not what palliation involves: worsening symptoms would go in the opposite direction, diagnosing is about identifying a condition, and curing completely implies eradicating the disease, which palliation does not promise.