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Webster 1913 Edition

Mitigate

Mit′i-gate

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Mitigated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Mitigating
.]
[L.
mitigatus
, p. p. of
mitigare
to soften, mitigate;
mitis
mild, soft + the root of
agere
to do, drive.]
1.
To make less severe, intense, harsh, rigorous, painful, etc.; to soften; to meliorate; to alleviate; to diminish; to lessen;
as, to
mitigate
heat or cold; to
mitigate
grief.
2.
To make mild and accessible; to mollify; – applied to persons.
[Obs.]
This opinion . . .
mitigated
kings into companions.
Burke.
Syn. – To alleviate; assuage; allay. See
Alleviate
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Mitigate

MIT'IGATE

,
Verb.
T.
[L.. 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.]

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