mitigate

English

WOTD – 16 November 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mītigātus, from mītigō, from mītis (“gentle, mild, ripe”) + agō (“do, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁i- (“mild, soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪt.ɪ.ɡeɪt/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

mitigate (third-person singular simple present mitigates, present participle mitigating, simple past and past participle mitigated)

1. (transitive) To reduce, lessen, or decrease; to make less severe or easier to bear.
   • 1795 – George Washington, Seventh 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.

   • 1813 – James Madison, Fifth State of the Union Address

     But in yielding to it the retaliation has been mitigated as much as possible, both in its extent and in its character...

   • 1896 – Walter Hadwen, The Case Against Vaccination

     Then they tell us that vaccination will mitigate the disease that it will make it milder.

   • 1901 – H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon, ch 7

     Then I discovered the brilliance of the landscape around was mitigated by blue spectacles.

   • 1920 – H. P. Lovecraft, The Cats of Ulthar

     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.

2. (transitive) To downplay.

Usage notes

Particularly used as mitigate a problem or flaw. Contrast with ameliorate (“make better”).

This word is often misused to mean “operate” or “influence”. For this meaning, the correct word is militate, followed by “against” or “in favour of”. Mitigate is never followed by these expressions.

Synonyms

• (to reduce or lessen): alleviate, check, diminish, ease, lighten, mollify, pacify, palliate

Antonyms

• (to reduce or lessen): aggrandize, aggravate, exacerbate, incite, increase, intensify, irritate, worsen

Coordinate terms

• ameliorate

Related terms

• mitigable
• mitigant
• mitigated
• mitigating
• mitigation
• mitigatory

Translations

to reduce, lessen, or decrease

• Bulgarian: смекчавам (bg) (smekčavam), облекчавам (bg) (oblekčavam)
• Catalan: mitigar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: zmírnit, snížit (cs)
• Dutch: mitigeren (nl), verzachten (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: lieventää (fi), helpottaa (fi)
• French: réduire (fr), atténuer (fr), mitiger (fr)
• German: mildern (de), abschwächen (de), abmildern
• Hungarian: csökkent (hu)
• Italian: mitigare (it), limitare (it)

• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: mītigō
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lindre, formilde, avbøte

• Polish: złagodzić (pl), zminimalizować, zmniejszyć (pl)
• Portuguese: mitigar (pt), atenuar (pt), pacificar (pt)
• Russian: смягчать, уменьшать ( строгость, суровость; наказание ); умерять, сдерживать ( жар, пыл ); облегчать ( боль, страдание )
• Spanish: mitigar (es)
• Swedish: lindra (sv), mildra (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: azaltmak (tr), dindirmek (tr), hafifletmek (tr), yumuşatmak (tr), yatıştırmak (tr), tadil etmek (tr)
• Vietnamese: giảm nhẹ (vi), giảm thiểu

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Italian

Verb

mitigate

1. second-person plural present indicative of mitigare
2. second-person plural imperative of mitigare
3. feminine plural of mitigato

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Latin

Participle

mītigāte

1. vocative masculine singular of mītigātus