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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Mitigate


MIT'IGATE, verb transitive [Latin . mitigo, from mitis, soft, mild.]

1. To alleviate, as suffering; to assuage; to lessen; as, to mitigate pain or grief.

And counsel mitigates the greatest smart.

2. To make less severe; as, to mitigate doom.

3. To abate; to make less rigorous; to moderate; as, to mitigate cold; to mitigate the severity of the season.

4. To temper; to moderate; to soften in harshness or severity.

We could wish that the rigor of their opinions were allayed and mitigated.

5. To calm; to appease; to moderate; as, to mitigate the fierceness of party.

6. To diminish; to render more tolerable; as, to mitigate the evils or calamities of life; to mitigate punishment.

7. To reduce in amount or severity; as, to mitigate a penalty.

8. To soften, or make mild and accessible; in a literal sense.

It was this opinion which mitigated kings into companions. [Unusual.]