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.]
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI