EXTENUATION

extenuation, mitigation, palliation

(noun) to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less serious

extenuation, mitigation

(noun) a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

extenuation (countable and uncountable, plural extenuations)

(countable and uncountable) The action of extenuating; extenuated condition.

The action or process of making or becoming thin; an instance of this; a shrunken condition; leanness, emaciation.

(of air, obsolete) Making less dense; rarefaction.

(obsolete) The action or process of making slender or diminishing in bulk; an instance of this.

(obsolete) The action of making less or weak; and instance of this; a weakening, impoverishment. Also, mitigation (of blame or punishment).

The action of representing (something) as slight and trifling; underrating; an instance of this, a plea to this end; a modification in terms.

(rhetoric, obsolete) A figure in which a term is used which, in contrast with the more fitting term it supplants, understates or seeks to diminish the significance of something.

The action of lessening, or seeking to lessen, the guilt of (an offence or fault) by alleging partial excuses; and instance or means of doing this; a plea in mitigation of censure.

(US, humorous, in the plural as “extenuations”) Thin garments.

Source: Wiktionary

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Ex*ten`u*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. extenuatio: cf. F. exténuation.]

Definition: The act of axtenuating or the state of being extenuated; the act of making thin, slender, or lean, or of palliating; diminishing, or lessening; palliation, as of a crime; mitigation, as of punishment. To listen . . . to every extenuation of what is evil. I. Taylor.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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