MIT'IGATE, v.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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