Etymograph

English

mitigation

Mitigation comes from Latin mītigātiō ‘softening, soothing’, from mītigō ‘make soft’, and ultimately from mītis ‘ripe, mature’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītis‘ripe, mature’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītigō‘make soft’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītigātus‘softened, pacified’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītigātiō‘softening, soothing’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mitigation
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītis‘ripe, mature’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītigō‘make soft’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītigātus‘softened, pacified’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmītigātiō‘softening, soothing’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mitigation
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838same form

Earliest quotation: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Keeping up Appearances. […]: “Two golden hours, in which the astonishing news of…”

Every English word from Latin mītis

Today it means

noun A reduction or decrease of something harmful or unpleasant.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin mītis / mitigation

Shirt and support for this word