Dictionary

mitigate en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈmɪt.ɪ.ɡeɪt/

Etymology

From Middle English mitigaten (“to relieve pain, soothe; (swelling) to abate; (hemorrhoids) to relieve; (the mind) to placate, appease; to end, check; to stop, cease”), from mitigat(e) (“mitigated, alleviated, relived”, also used as the past participle of mitigaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin mītigātus, the perfect passive participle of mītigō (“to make soft, ripe; to tame, pacify”), from mītis (“gentle, mild, ripe”) + -igō (“to do, make”), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁y- (“mild, soft”).

Meanings

1. (of problems or flaws, transitive) To reduce, lessen, or decrease and thereby to make less severe or easier to bear.
   • This highly-aggressive approach had results, but briefly caused a major uproar in parts of the United States, which was mitigated by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty in 1842, which formalised the U.S. Navy's contribution to the antislavery efforts. 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 8:56 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2024:
   • Then they tell us that vaccination will mitigate the disease that it will make it milder. 1896, Walter Hadwen, The Case Against Vaccination:
   • The plague had not been kind to him, yet had left him this small furry thing to mitigate his sorrow; and when one is very young, one can find great relief in the lively antics of a black kitten. 1920, H. P. Lovecraft, The Cats of Ulthar:
   • But then crashworthiness is not about preventing accidents, but about mitigating their consequences. 2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 53:
   • But in yielding to it the retaliation has been mitigated as much as possible, both in its extent and in its character... 1813, James Madison, Fifth State of the Union Address:
   • Measures are pursuing to prevent or mitigate the usual consequences of such outrages, and with the hope of their succeeding at least to avert general hostility. 1795, George Washington, Seventh State of the Union Address:
   • Then I discovered the brilliance of the landscape around was mitigated by blue spectacles. 1900 December – 1901 August, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 7, in The First Men in the Moon, London: George Newnes, […], published 1901, →OCLC:
2. (transitive) To downplay.
3. (intransitive, proscribed) To give force or effect toward preventing a problem.
   • We've mitigated against the chance of flooding.

Forms

Antonyms

increase (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”) · intensify (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”) · irritate (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”) · aggravate (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”) · aggrandize (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”) · incite (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”) · worsen (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”) · exacerbate (antonym(s) of “to reduce or lessen”)

Coordinates

ameliorate

Deriveds

mitigator · remitigate · mitigatable · mitigative

Relateds

mitigatory · mitigant · mitigated · mitigation · mitigating · mitigable

Synonyms

alleviate (to reduce or lessen) · pacify (to reduce or lessen) · ease (to reduce or lessen) · militate · palliate (to reduce or lessen) · lighten (to reduce or lessen) · mollify (to reduce or lessen) · diminish (to reduce or lessen) · extenuate (to reduce or lessen) · check (to reduce or lessen)

Translations (57)

bg смекчавам (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · pt atenuar (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · vi giảm thiểu (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · it mitigare (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · de abschwächen (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ru умеря́ть (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · nl verzachten (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · pl zminimalizować (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · da dæmpe (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · sv mildra (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · cmn 减少 (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · pl zmniejszyć (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · nb formilde (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · tr yatıştırmak (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · pl złagodzić (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · de abmildern (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · tr dindirmek (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · eo mildigi (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · fr atténuer (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · es mitigar (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ca mitigar (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · da mitigere (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ru смягча́ть (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ru сде́рживать (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · uk полегшувати (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · cs snížit (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · pt pacificar (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · tr yumuşatmak (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ru облегча́ть (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ro atenua (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · pt mitigar (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · nl mitigeren (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · mi whakamauru (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · hu csökkent (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · tr tadil etmek (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · nb avbøte (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · fr mitiger (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · da lindre (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ru уменьша́ть (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · it limitare (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · nb lindre (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · fi lieventää (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · cmn 缓解 (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · vi giảm nhẹ (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · sv lindra (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · fi helpottaa (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · fr réduire (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · ota قیرمق (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · cs zmírnit (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · de mildern (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · la mītigō (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · bg облекчавам (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · tr hafifletmek (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · tr azaltmak (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · uk зменшувати (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · de lindern (to reduce, lessen, or decrease) · uk пом'якшувати (to reduce, lessen, or decrease)

mitigate en · ADJ · etymology 2

Etymology

From Middle English mitigat(e) (“mitigated”, also used as the past participle of mitigaten and of mitigate in Early Modern English), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) Mitigated, alleviated.

Forms

wikipedia: Early Modern English