Hypertext Webster Gateway: "extenuation"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Extenuation \Ex*ten`u*a"tion\, n. [L. extenuatio: cf. F.
ext['e]nuation.]
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
extenuation
n : to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less
serious [syn: {mitigation}, {palliation}]
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