mitigatio

Forms

mītigātiō f (genitive mītigātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin mītigō (“to soften, soothe”) + -tiō.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Rhetorica ad Herennium (86/82 BC), of toning down a sharp statement: frankness that seems too harsh “will be softened by many mitigations” (multis mitigationibus lenietur).^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.^[4] Cicero uses it for the soothing of the emotions, the counterpart of rousing them.^[2][6] In Christian Latin it is used of comfort and consolation, in the Vulgate and in Augustine,^[3] and medical writers such as Caelius Aurelianus and Theodorus Priscianus used it for the relief of bodily pain and complaints.^[3] Medieval Latin kept the sense of relief or alleviation.^[7] Italian mitigazione continues it.^[8]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of qualifying a strong statement.^[2][3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of soothing the emotions.^[2][3][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has si est lingua curationis, est et mitigationis.^[4][3][5]
• 397–401 AD – Augustine, in the Confessions, asks for mitigations to be rained into his heart.^[3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as mitigation.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The toning down or qualification of a strong statement.^[2][3]
2. The soothing or calming of the emotions; consolation.^[2][4][3]
3. (Late Latin, medicine) Relief, alleviation of pain or illness.^[3][7]

Related words

• English mitigation

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com